Kiobel v. Shell - Proceedings in the USA

In 2002, Royal Dutch/Shell was sued in US federal court by Esther Kiobel, the wife of Dr. Barinem Kiobel- an Ogoni activist who was member of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and eleven other Nigerians from the Ogoni region.  MOSOP campaigned against the environmental damage caused by oil extraction in the Ogoni region of Nigeria and for increased autonomy for the Ogoni ethnic group.  Barinem Kiobel and other members of MOSOP were detained illegally in 1994, held incommunicado in military custody, then tried by a special court established by the military government using procedures in violation of international fair trial standards, convicted of murder and executed.  The suit alleges that Shell, through its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), provided transport to Nigerian troops, allowed company property to be used as staging areas for attacks against the Ogoni and provided food to the soldiers and paid them.  The plaintiffs claimed the defendant companies were complicit in the commission of torture, extrajudicial killing and other violations pursuant to the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA).

In March 2008, the district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.  On 16 November 2009, the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration was granted asking the court to re-examine the issue of jurisdiction.  The court said in the motion that a direct business relationship between the USA and SPDC must be established in order for ATCA to apply.  On 21 June 2010, the district court ruled that the plaintiffs had not shown that this direct business relationship had existed, and the judge dismissed the suit against SPDC.  The plaintiffs appealed this ruling, and on 17 September 2010 the court of appeals issued a sweeping opinion addressing ATCA lawsuits involving corporate defendants.  The majority opinion affirmed lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit, and it also stated that ATCA could not be used to sue corporations for violations of international law.  A separate opinion was written by the third judge from the appeals court panel, who concurred with the majority in judgment only.  This judge vigorously disagreed with the majority’s reasoning; he wrote that the majority’s opinion dealt a “substantial blow to international law and its undertaking to protect fundamental human rights.”  On 14 October 2010, the plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc with the court.  The court of appeals, on 4 February 2011, refused to rehear the case.  The plaintiffs petitioned the Supreme Court in June 2011 asking it to hear an appeal of the lower court's ruling.  On 17 October 2011 the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the plaintiffs' appeal in this case.  Oral arguments were held on 28 February 2012.  On 5 March the Supreme Court announced that it would not rule on the case in the current term.  It has asked the parties to submit supplemental briefs and will rehear the case in the next term.  The Court asked the parties to submit briefs on whether the Alien Tort Claims Act allows federal courts to hear lawsuits alleging violations of international law which occur outside the United States.  The Court reheard the case on 1 October 2012.  On 17 April 2013 the Supreme Court handed down its decision finding that ATCA does not apply to conduct outside of the United States.  The Court affirmed the dismissal of the case.

Coverage:

• Companies Shielded as U.S. Court Cuts Human-Rights Suits, Bloomberg, 2013
• Views on Kiobel v. Shell, Institute for Human Rights and Business, 2012
• Alien torts in America's courts, Los Angeles Times, 2012
• Shell, Corporate Responsibility and Respect for the Law, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, 2012
• Argument recap: In search of an [Alien Tort Statute] compromise, SCOTUSblog, 2012
• Supreme Court may narrow law in human rights cases, Reuters, 2012
• The U.S. Supreme Court must preserve the Alien Tort Statute for international corporate human rights cases, EarthRights International, 2012
• - Torture Suits Against Companies Including Shell Draw U.S. High Court Review, Bloomberg, 2011
• - US court upholds key Shell ruling in Nigeria case, Reuters, 2011
• - 2nd Circuit Rejects Corporate Liability in Alien Tort Cases, New York Law Journal, 2010
• - Nigeria Torture Case Decision Exempts Companies From U.S. Alien Tort Law, Bloomberg, 2010
• - Judge Kimba Wood Dismisses Defendant from Aliant Tort Statute Class Action for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction, Jackson on Consumer Class Actions & Mass Torts, 2010

Esther Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company et al:

• Opinion of US Supreme Court, 17 Apr 2013
• Petitioners/plaintiffs (Kiobel) - Supplemental Reply Brief, 31 Aug 2012
• Respondents/defendants (Shell) - Supplemental Brief, 1 Aug 2012
• Supplemental brief for petitioners/plaintiffs (Kiobel), 6 Jun 2012
• Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum - Brief for Respondents, 27 Jan 2012
• Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum - Brief for Petitioners, 14 Dec 2011
• Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum - Petition for Writ of Certiorari, 6 Jun 2011
• US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, et al., 4 Feb 2011 [order denying plaintiffs' petition for rehearing]
• Petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc for Plaintiffs-Appellants-Cross-Appellees, 14 Oct 2010
• US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Order affirming District Court’s dismissal of lawsuit, 17 Sep 2010
• US District Court for the Southern District of New York: Opinion and Order [regarding 2008 motion to dismiss], 21 Jun 2010
• Opinion and Order re Plainitffs' motion for reconsideration, 16 Nov 2009
• Opinion and Order, 25 Jun 2009
• Brief for the United States as amicus curiae supporting petitioners, 21 Dec 2011
• Brief of Former US Senator Arlen Specter, Human Rights First, and the Anti-Defamation League as amici curiae in support of petitioners, 21 Dec 2011
• Brief of Earth Rights Intl. as amicus curiae supporting petitioners, 21 Dec 2011