Over at Opinio Juris, my co-blogger Roger Alford notes the issuance today of the Second Circuit’s “long-awaited decision of Presbyterian Church of Sudan v. Talisman Energy.” Remarks Roger:
My initial impression of the opinion is that it creates an intent hurdle that will be extraordinarily difficult for plaintiffs to overcome. Plaintiffs must show that a corporation had the intent to assist in the violation of human rights. The Court went further and held that while “there may well be an ATS case in which a genuine issue of fact as to a defendant’s intent to aid and abet the principal could be inferred; but in this case, there were insufficient facts or circumstances suggesting that Talisman acted with the purpose to advance violations of international humanitarian law.”
If this case stands, it will be the death knell for most corporate liability claims under the Alien Tort Statute.