What Is . . . Alien Tort Claims Act?
The Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) of 1789 is a statute codified in Title 28 United States Code § 1350. This 220 year old (as of this writing) piece of legislation, also known as the Alien Tort Statute or ATS, stipulates that
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.
This statement lives within the section of code dealing with the U.S. judiciary’s federal courts. The “district courts” in the statement refer to the first of three levels of federal courts.
Not much of the legislative context for this survives today so it’s difficult to know the extent to which its creators intended its use but one historical incident that appears to have given rise to the legislation was the a French diplomat Francis Barbe Marbois was attacked in America and had little legal recourse.
Seminal Cases:
In 1980 the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case of Filartiga v. Peña-Irala, 630 F.2d 876 (2d Cir. 1980). The case was brought by the father and sister of a young man allegedly tortured to death by a Paraguyan official. Initially the case was dismissed for “want of federal jurisdiction” but the 2nd Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, remanding the case.
This statute allows foreign nationals to sue other foreign nationals in federal court based on non-U.S. laws.
