Human Rights Take a Back Seat: The Supreme Court Hands Out a Pass to Multinationals and Other Would Be Violators of the Law of Nations

摘要

Inexplicably, the Supreme Court stunted the promotion of and accountability for enforcing human rights. The ATS' positive impact on human rights blossomed in the 1980s with the decision in the Filartiga case. Individuals committing egregious human rights violations in faraway places could no longer escape the rule of law. The Supreme Court, in restricting the reach of the ATS, has reversed course on the enforcement of human rights by incorrectly barring the application of the ATS to human rights violations committed by non-US residents or MNCs with sufficient jurisdictional ties to the U.S. The Court has eviscerated one of the few tools for MNC human rights accountability. What tools remain to enforce MNC accountability are as ineffective as the courts sitting in countries that foster complicity between MNCs and corrupt governments to inflict human rights abuses for sake of mutual economic pursuits. Furthermore, monitoring of corporate behavior by NGOs and self-imposed codes of corporate responsibility are almost laughable in comparison to potential judicial remedies. Considering the original intent of the ATS, which is to bring civil justice for the victims of the serious violators of the laws of nations, the risk of having a bold national reputation by enforcing human rights violations that occur anywhere in the world is outweighed by noble efforts to help the underprivileged and abused.