Transnational Litigation in U.S. Courts

The course will cover transnational litigation with a focus on United States courts, with the first half of this course focused on the jurisdictional basics for asserting a violation of international law in U.S. courts, and the second half focusing on particular issues that arise when suing a corporation or government official and affirmative defenses raised in such cases. The first two weeks will focus on enforcing or implementing international law in federal courts generally and the main jurisdictional features of the key statutes for bringing such claims: the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The third week will focus on particular issues arising in cases against corporations, and place U.S. litigation against corporations in a larger global context of corporate accountability and corporate social responsibility. The fourth and fifth weeks will examine issues of defenses raised, and other types of actions such as state court and trade actions. The sixth week will look holistically at case studies applying the various tests and defenses to concrete cases, and explore how strategic human rights litigation fits into, or can be complemented by, larger advocacy strategies or movement goals.  By the end of the course, students should have a thorough sense of what avenues in the United States are open to survivors of human rights violations and how to assess whether a case is viable.