Rio Tinto PLC v. Sarei

Issue: (1) Whether U.S. courts should recognize a federal common law claim under the Alien Tort Statue (ATS) arising from conduct occurring entirely within the jurisdiction of a foreign sovereign, especially where the claim addresses the foreign sovereign’s own conduct on its own soil toward its own citizens; (2) whether U.S. courts should recognize a federal common law claim under the ATS based on aiding-and-abetting liability, even absent concrete factual allegations establishing that the purpose of the defendant’s conduct was to advance the principal actor’s violations of international law; (3) whether a plaintiff asserting a federal common law claim under the ATS addressed to conduct occurring entirely within the jurisdiction of a foreign sovereign must seek to exhaust available remedies in the courts of that sovereign before filing suit in the United States, as international and domestic law require; and (4) whether federal common law claims asserted under the ATS for violations of international human rights law norms may be brought against corporate entities.

Judgment: Granted, vacated, and remanded for further consideration in light of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. on April 22, 2013. (Kagan, J., recused.)