Plain-English summary
Court limits ATS suits: no new private aiding-and-abetting claims under federal statute
The Court held that courts may not create new private causes of action under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) to reach aiding-and-abetting liability, and that neither the ATS nor the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) imposes aiding-and-abetting liability. The Ninth Circuit judgment allowing such claims against Cisco was reversed and the case remanded.
Why this matters
The decision narrows an important federal pathway used by foreign and domestic plaintiffs to sue U.S. corporations and others in U.S. courts for alleged complicity in human-rights abuses overseas. By rejecting judicial creation of new ATS causes of action for aiding-and-abetting, the ruling reduces the range of international-law claims available against companies and other defendants in U.S. federal courts.
Who may feel it
- Multinational corporations and their U.S. subsidiaries
- Victims of alleged human-rights abuses seeking remedies in U.S. courts
- Human-rights organizations and litigators
- Federal courts that hear transnational human-rights cases
- Foreign governments and individuals implicated in ATS litigation