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Case 12.1
KIOBEL V. ROYAL DUTCH PETROLEUM, COMPANY
United States Court of Appeals
621 F.3d 111; 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 19382 [September 17, 2010]
FACTS:
Plaintiffs, who were residents of the Ogoni Region of Nigeria (Nigerian nationals residing in the
U.S.) allege that Defendants Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Royal Dutch) and Shall Transport
and Trading Company PLC (Shell), through a subsidiary named Shell Petroleum Development
Company of Nigeria, Ltd. (SPDC), aided and abetted the Nigerian government in committing human
rights abuses directed at Plaintiffs.
Royal Dutch and Shell are holding companies incorporated respectively in the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom. SPDC is incorporated in Nigeria.
All Defendants are corporate entities – that is “juridical” persons rather than “natural” persons.
SPDC has been engaged in oil exploration and production in the Ogoni region of Nigeria since 1958.
In response to SPDC’s activities residents of the Ogoni region organized a group named the
“Movement for Survival of Ogoni People” to protest the environmental effects of oil exploration in
the region.
Plaintiffs alleged that in 1993 Defendants responded by enlisting the aid of the Nigerian
government to suppress the Ogoni resistance.
Throughout 1993 and 1994, Nigerian military forces are alleged to have shot and killed Ogoni
residents and attacked Ogoni villages—beating, raping, and arresting residents and destroying or
looting property—with the assistance of Defendants.
Plaintiffs brought claims against Defendants under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) for aiding and
abetting the Nigerian government in alleged violations of the law of nations.
PROCEDURE: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed certain of the
individuals’ claims, denied the corporations’ motion to dismiss the remaining claims, and certified its
entire order for interlocutory appeal.
ISSUE: Does the jurisdiction granted by the ATS extend to civil actions brought against corporations
under the law of nations?
RULE: “Offenses against the law of nations (i.e., customary international law) for violations of human
rights can be charged against states and against individual men and women but not against juridicial
persons such as corporations. Although customary international law has sometimes extended the
scope of liability for a violation of a given norm to individuals, it has never extended the scope of
liability to a corporation.”
REASONING:
1. Plaintiffs failed to allege violations of the law of nations, and plaintiffs’ claims fall outside the
limited jurisdiction provided by the ATS.
international crimes, and no international tribunal has ever held a corporation liable for a violation
of the law of nations.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
“The ATS provides jurisdiction over (1) tort actions, (2) brought by aliens (only), (3) for violations of
the law of nations (also called “customary international law”) including, as a general matter, war
crimes and crimes against humanity – crimes in which the perpetrator can be called “hostis humani
generis, and enemy of all mankind.”
soldiers involved in the attacks, and (4) provided compensation to those soldiers.
