* Shell accused of aiding Nigerian human rights abuses
* Reach of 1789 law used to sue corporations
* Supreme Court’s ruling expected by the end of June
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – A number of Supreme
Court justices expressed skepticism on Tuesday that corporations
can be sued in the United States for alleged complicity in human
rights abuses abroad, a case with important financial, legal and
international implications.
The high court during arguments considered limiting the
reach of a 1789 U.S. law that was largely dormant for nearly two
centuries, but used in the past 20 years by foreign victims to
sue multinational corporations for abuses committed overseas.
The court’s conservatives voiced concern that allowing such
lawsuits violated international law, that it created tensions
with foreign nations and that the U.S. law only applied to acts
by individuals, not to corporations.
The case before the court involved a lawsuit by 12 Nigerians
who alleged that Royal Dutch Shell Plc helped the
Nigerian government crack down on oil exploration protests
between 1992 and 1995 through torture, executions and crimes
against humanity.
“What business does a case like that have in the United
States?” Justice Samuel Alito asked Paul Hoffman, the California
attorney who argued for the plaintiffs.
Continued…
