Corporate Responsibility under the Alien Tort Statute : Enforcement of International Law through US Torts Law (Developments in International Law, Volume 61)

429 Pages·2009·1.37 MB·English

by  Michael Koebele

Corporate Responsibility under the
Alien Tort Statute
Developments
in International Law
VOLUME 61
Corporate Responsibility under the
Alien Tort Statute
Enforcement of International Law through
US Torts Law
By
Michael Koebele
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2009
Th is book was accepted by the University of Hamburg Faculty of Law as a dissertion for the
degree of doctorate in law.
Th is book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koebele, Michael.
Corporate responsibility under the Alien Tort Statute : enforcement of international law
through US torts law / by Michael Koebele.
p. cm. — (Developments in international law ; v. 61)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-90-04-17365-1 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. United States. Alien Tort Claims Act. 2. Government liability—United States. 3. Tort
liability of corporations—United States. 4. Government liability (International law) 5. Tort
liability of corporations. I. Title.
KF1309.5K64 2009
342.7308’8—dc22
2009009080
ISSN 0924-5332
ISBN 978 90 04 17365 1
Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission
from the publisher.
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Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to
Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
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Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
Contents
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................... xiii
PART I
INTRODUCTION
Introduction ................................................................................................... 3
PART II
INTERNATIONAL LAW COVERED
Chapter One: Actionability Standards ...................................................... 17
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 17
II. Possible Standards to Determine Actionable Norms ..................... 18
A. Customary International Law-Standard ..................................... 18
B. Defi nable, Universal, and Obligatory-Standard ........................ 20
C. Jus Cogens-Standard ....................................................................... 22
D. Wrongs Related to a Lawful Prize-Standard ............................. 23
E. Cause of Action under International Law-Standard ................ 26
III. Th e Supreme Court’s Decision in Sosa ............................................. 28
A. Factual Background ........................................................................ 30
B. Interpretation Given by the Majority ......................................... 31
1. Historic Authorization by Common Law ............................. 32
2. Standard of Elevated Level of Specifi city and
Acceptance .................................................................................. 36
3. Reasons for Narrow Interpretation ........................................ 36
4. Exact Meaning of New Standard ............................................ 37
C. Minority’s Criticism of the Majority View ................................ 41
1. Th e Erie Precedent .................................................................... 41
2. General Constitutional Discourse .......................................... 44
3. Majority’s Response to Scalia and Analysis .......................... 46
I V. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 50
vi Contents

Chapter Two: International Criminal Law .............................................. 53
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 53
II. Genocide ................................................................................................. 55
A. Actionability .................................................................................... 55
B. Enforceable Scope of the Defi nition ............................................ 57
1. Protected Groups ...................................................................... 58
2. Individual Acts .......................................................................... 61
3. Mental Element: Specifi c Intent ............................................. 63
III. Crimes against Humanity .................................................................... 66
A. Actionability .................................................................................... 66
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition .................................................. 67
1. Attack on a Civilian Population ............................................. 68
2. Mental Element ......................................................................... 71
3. Individual Acts .......................................................................... 71
4. Crime of Apartheid ................................................................... 72
I V. War Crimes ............................................................................................ 75
A. Actionability .................................................................................... 77
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition .................................................. 79
1. Overall Requirements ............................................................... 79
(a) Applicability Ratione Temporis and Loci ...................... 79
(b) Existence of Armed Confl ict ........................................... 80
(c) Nexus to Armed Confl ict ................................................. 80
(d) Mental Element .................................................................. 81
2. Particular Crimes ...................................................................... 81
(a) War Crimes against Persons ........................................... 81
(b) War Crimes against Property .......................................... 84
(c) Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law
in General? .......................................................................... 84
V. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 86
Chapter Th ree: Civil and Political Rights ................................................. 89
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 89
II. Th e Right to Life ................................................................................... 91
A. Actionability .................................................................................... 91
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition .................................................. 92
1. Extra-Judicial Killing ................................................................ 92
2. Death Penalty ............................................................................. 94
(a) Most Serious Crimes ......................................................... 96
(b) Minimum Fair Trial .......................................................... 97
(c) Nulla poena sine lege ......................................................... 97
(d) Competent court ................................................................ 97
Contents vii

III. Torture ................................................................................................. 98
A. Actionability .................................................................................. 98
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ................................................ 100
IV. Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment ..................................... 101
A. Actionability .................................................................................. 102
1. Implant from Domestic Law to Increase
Determinateness ...................................................................... 104
2. Jurisprudence of New Tribunals as Guiding Force .......... 106
3. Result ........................................................................................ 106
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ................................................ 107
V. Arbitrary Detention ........................................................................... 107
A. Actionability .................................................................................. 107
1. Courts’ Approach in the Filartiga Era ................................ 108
2. Sosa Decision on Arbitrary Detention ................................ 108
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ................................................ 109
VI. Right to Informed Consent to Medical Experimentation .......... 110
A. Actionability .................................................................................. 110
1. Factual Allegations in Abdullahi v. Pfi zer .......................... 110
2. Pfi zer Reasoning ...................................................................... 112
(a) Nuremberg Code ............................................................. 112
(b) Declaration of Helsinki and CIOMS Guidelines ....... 114
(c) Th e Second Sentence of Article 7 of the ICCPR ........ 115
(d) Outcome ........................................................................... 115
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ................................................ 115
VII. Freedom of Expression ..................................................................... 116
A. Actionability .................................................................................. 116
B. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ................................................ 119
VIII. Conclusions ......................................................................................... 120
Chapter Four: Labor Standards .................................................................. 123
I. Introduction ........................................................................................ 123
II. Core Labor Standards ....................................................................... 124
A. Forced Labor ................................................................................. 125
1. Actionability ............................................................................ 125
(a) Cases Relating to World War II ................................... 126
(b) Unocal Case ...................................................................... 131
2. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ........................................... 132
B. Prohibition on Discrimination .................................................. 133
1. Actionability ............................................................................ 133
2. Enforceable Scope of Defi nition ........................................... 134
C. Prohibition on Child Labor ....................................................... 134
D. Freedom of Association .............................................................. 141
viii Contents

1. Reluctance towards Recognition as Actionable ................... 141
2. Indirect Enforcement of Freedom of Association ............... 146
III. Other Labor Standards ......................................................................... 147
IV. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 149
Chapter Five: Environmental Destruction ............................................... 151
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 151
II. International Environmental Law ...................................................... 152
A. Amlon Metals and Stockholm Principle 21 ............................... 153
B. Aguinda and Rio Principle 2 ........................................................ 156
C. Beanal and General Principles of Law ........................................ 160
D. Sarei v. Rio Tinto Plc. ..................................................................... 165
1. Factual Background .................................................................. 165
2. Principle of Sustainable Development ................................... 166
3. UNCLOS ..................................................................................... 166
III. Environment-Related Human Rights Law ....................................... 167
A. Sarei: Linking Human Rights to Environment ......................... 168
1. Soft Law Developments ............................................................ 168
2. Right to Health .......................................................................... 169
3. Right to Life ............................................................................... 171
4. Response of Judge Modrow .................................................... 175
5. Analysis ....................................................................................... 176
B. Flores: Second Circuit’s Decision on Egregious Standard ....... 179
1. Factual Background .................................................................. 180
2. District Court Decision ............................................................ 181
3. Court of Appeals ....................................................................... 181
(a) General Human Rights Argument ................................. 181
(b) Egregious Approach in Particular .................................. 184
C. Procedural Argument? ................................................................... 185
IV. Environment-Related International Humanitarian Law? .............. 186
V. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 190
PART III
CORPORATE PARTICIPATION COVERED
Chapter Six: Application to TNCs ............................................................. 195
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 195
II. Presbyterian Church of Sudan ............................................................ 196
A. Previous Ignorance of Issue .......................................................... 197
B. Partial Subjectivity of TNCs under International Law ............ 200
Contents ix

III. Agent Orange ........................................................................................ 205
A. Torts Law Policy Argument ......................................................... 205
B. Systematic Argument from TVPA .............................................. 206
C. Historic Argument ......................................................................... 207
D. Fragmentary Nature of International Law ................................. 208
IV. Guidance by Sosa? ................................................................................ 208
V. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 209
Chapter Seven: Norms that Can Be Violated Only by State Actors .... 211
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 211
II. Th e State Action Requirement ............................................................ 212
III. Color of Law-Jurisprudence as Litmus Test .................................... 214
A. Justifi cation of Incorporation of Color of
Law-Jurisprudence .......................................................................... 214
1. Th e Forti Reference to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ............................... 214
2. Kadic Precedent of the Second Circuit ................................. 216
3. Analogy to TVPA since 1992 .................................................. 217
4. Wording of ATS Itself .............................................................. 217
5. Better Alternative of International Standards? .................... 217
(a) Inadequacy of Regulation in TNC-as-Main
Perpetrators Constellations .............................................. 218
(b) Remaining Need to Determine Individual and/or
Corporate Responsibility .................................................. 222
B. Domestic Tests as Applied to Determine State Action ........... 223
1. Joint Action Approach ............................................................. 224
2. Nexus Approach ........................................................................ 228
3. Symbiotic Relation Approach ................................................. 230
4. Public Function ......................................................................... 232
5. Proximate Cause Test ............................................................... 233
IV. Practical Abandonment of Violation of International
Law-Requirement? ................................................................................ 238
A. Host State Responsibility by Omission ....................................... 239
B. Home State Responsibility ............................................................ 240
V. Impact of Sosa and Post-Sosa Developments .................................. 242
VI. Conclusions ............................................................................................ 243
Chapter Eight: Norms that Can Be Violated by Everyone .................... 245
I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 245
II. Recognized Exceptions ......................................................................... 245
A. War Crimes and Genocide ........................................................... 246
B. Crimes against Humanity ............................................................. 249
C. Forced Labor ................................................................................... 250