Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Multinational Corporations and Human Rights

Other Relevant Cases

Al-Adsani v. Government of Kuwait
[1996] TLR 192 (CA)
UK Court of Appeal
European Court of Human Rights

Case against government of Kuwait for breach of customary international law, entailed in alleged acts of torture, dismissed for sovereign immunity.

http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?item=18&portal=hbkm&action=html&highlight=2001%20%7C%20%27Al-Adsani%20%7C%20v.%20%7C%20UK%27&sessionid=8437894&skin=hudoc-en

Baker v Carr
Application for declaration
369 US 186 (SCt 1962)

Seminal US case on the ‘political question’ doctrine.

http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Baker/

Banco Nacional de Cuba v Sabbatino
376 US 398 (SCt 1964)
US Supreme Court

Seminal US case on the ‘act of state’ doctrine.

http://www.elaw.org/resources/printable.asp?id=1746

Bridgeway Corp v Citibank
201 F 3d 134 (2d Cir 2000)
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

CA held courts may use US State Department human rights reports to determine whether an alternative forum is too corrupt to be adequate. Case concerned the enforcement of a judgment of the Supreme Court of Liberia.

 http://www.uniset.ca/other/cs6/201F3d134.html

Buttes Gas v Hammer
[1981] 3 All ER 616 (HL)
House of Lords

Seminal British case on the doctrine of non-justiciability, the UK version of the ‘political question’ doctrine.

Not available online

CSR Ltd v Wren
(1997) 44 NSWLR 463 (CA NSW)
New South Wales Court of Appeal

Employee of CSR subsidiary sued CSR for asbestos-related injuries. CSR held liable for injuries. Held that, on the facts, CSR owed a duty to ensure subsidiary’s operations were not dangerous. The CA decision is not available online but the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales decision is available at:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/cases/nsw/NSWDDT/1997/7.html?query=%7e+csr+ltd+v+wren

Filartiga v Peña-Irala
630 F 2d 876 (2d Cir 1980)
US Court of Appeal

Seminal Alien Tort Claims Act case. Paraguayan police inspector-general successfully sued for murder and torture of plaintiffs’ relative.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jksonc/docs/filartiga-630F2d876.html

Gulf Oil v Gilbert
330 US 501 (SCt 1947)
US Supreme Court

Seminal US case on forum non conveniens.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=330&invol=501

International Shoe Co v State of Washington
326 US 310 (SCt 1945)
US Supreme Court

Seminal US case on personal jurisdiction.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&court=US&case=/us/326/310.html

Kadic v Karadzic
70 F 3d 232 (2d Cir 1995)
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Claim against de facto Bosnian Serb government officials for atrocities during Yugoslavian conflict. Held Alien Tort Claims Act can apply to members of de facto but unrecognised governments, and to private bodies.

http://www.uniset.ca/other/cs5/70F3d232.html

MC Mehta v Union of India
AIR 1987 SC 975
Supreme Court of India

Court endorses principal of enterprise liability when the enterprise is involved in inherently dangerous activities.

http://www.elaw.org/resources/tex.asp?id-279

Owusu v Jackson
[2002] IL Pr 45 (CA)
UK Court of Appeal

Case referred to ECJ to decide if the UK can dismiss cases for Forum non Conveniens when the alternative forum is a non-EU nation. ECJ decision pending

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2002/877.html

Prosecutor v Furundzija
(Case No IT-95-17/1-T), Judgment, 10 December 1998
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

Source of test of ‘aiding and abetting’ used by the majority in Unocal 2002.

http://www.un.org/icty/furundzija/appeal/judgement/

Regie Nationale des Usines Renault SA v Zhang
210 CLR 491 (HCA)
High Court of Australia

Medical treatment in New South Wales held to be sufficient connection for case to proceed against French defendant with no presence in jurisdiction. No stay for Forum non Conveniens granted. Also seemed to affirm that choice of law in Australia will always be that of the site of the tort.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/disp.pl/au/cases/cth/high%5fct/2002/10.html?query=%7e+regie+nationale+des+usines+renault+sa+v+zhang

Sosa v Alvarez-Machain
2003 US LEXIS 8572 (SCt 2003)
US Supreme Court

US Supreme Court agrees to hear a petition for certiorari, including arguments that Alien Tort Claims Act is merely jurisdictional, or unconstitutional. Decision pending

Amicus briefs available via http://sdshh.com/Alvarez/

The Paquete Habana
175 US 677 (SCt 1900)
US Supreme Court

Case established that customary international law is incorporated into US law, unless overridden by statute.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=175&invol=677

Tolofson v Jensen
[1994] 3 SCR 1022 (SCt Canada)
Supreme Court of Canada

Major Canadian case on choice of law, though it may not have effect in international conflicts of laws cases.

http://www.canlii.org/ca/cas/scc/1994/1994scc107.html

Trendtex Trading Corp v Central Bank of Nigeria
[1977] 2 WLR 356 (CA)
UK Court of Appeal

Case confirms that customary international law is automatically incorporated into UK law.

Not available online.

Voth v Manildra Flour Mills
(1990) 171 CLR 538 (HCA)
High Court of Australia

Leading Australian Forum non Conveniens case; affirmed the ‘clearly inappropriate’ test, which is more liberal to plaintiffs than the tests in the USA and UK.

Not available online

Wilson v Servier Canada
50 OR (3d) 219 (SCJ Ont 2000)
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Canadian case follows House of Lords decision in Lubbe on Forum non Conveniens. Forum non Conveniens motion denied in products liability case.