A recent post on this blog has highlighted a certain trend among European states towards an opening of their courts to foreign direct liability cases. Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court has just struck another blow against transnational human rights litigation against corporations.

On 24 April 2018, the United States Supreme Court rendered its long-awaited judgment in Jesner et al v. Arab Bank PLC (Jesner, 584 U.S.).

The claim adds to the extensive list of lawsuits filed under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), an 18^th-century statute which grants US courts jurisdiction over “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.” (28 U.S.C. para 1350).