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56 Rutgers L. Rev. 971 (2003-2004)
The Alien Tort Statute, Civil Society, and Corporate Responsibility

handle is hein.journals/rutlr56 and id is 983 raw text is: THE ALIEN TORT STATUTE, CIVIL SOCIETY, AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Sarah H. Cleveland* The topic of this panel is civil participation in the global trading system, with a particular focus on Doe v. Unocal Corp.1 and use of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) to enforce fundamental human rights norms against multinational corporations. These comments will therefore attempt to locate Doe v. Unocal and other ATS litigation in the broader efforts of civil society to establish and maintain normative principles for corporate responsibility in the global trading regime. This comment first explains the role of ATS litigation in the broader civil society context and the contribution of ATS cases to the development and enforcement of international human rights law. It then briefly responds to two recent criticisms of ATS litigation: that ATS litigation is spiraling out of control and that suits under the ATS improperly infringe on U.S. foreign relations. I argue that ATS litigation has played an important role in the recent overall global development of enforceable human rights norms, that traditional procedural and prudential mechanisms are working effectively to identify appropriate ATS claims, and that extraordinary measures such as the current administration's attempts to obtain dismissal of corporate ATS suits are contrary to longstanding U.S. human rights policy and simply damage the United States' standing as an international leader in the promotion and protection of human rights. I. THE ATS AND GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY The Unocal case and other suits under the ATS represent the flipside of the relationship between civil society and the World Trade Organization (WTO) considered in the first half of this symposium. Unlike the situation at the WTO, where civil society is knocking for admission at the door of an established international institution with * Marrs McLean Professor in Law, University of Texas School of Law; A.B. 1987, Brown University; M.St. 1989, Oxford University; J.D. 1992, Yale Law School. I am grateful to Hollin Dickerson for her invaluable assistance with this project. 1. Doe v. Unocal Corp., No. 00-56603, 2002 WL 31063976 (9th Cir. 2002), reh'g en banc granted, opinion vacated by Doe v. Unocal Corp., No. 00-56628, 2003 WL 359787 (9th Cir. 2003) (settlement entered March 2005).

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