Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-499_1a7d.pdf
Page Number: 11

Cite as:  584 U. S. ____ (2018) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

Kingdom  had,  through  a  Nigerian  subsidiary,  aided  and 
abetted the Nigerian Government in human-rights abuses. 
Id., at 123.  In Kiobel, the Court of Appeals held that the
ATS does not extend to suits against corporations.  Id., at 
120.  This  Court  granted  certiorari  in  Kiobel.  565  U. S. 
961 (2011).

After additional briefing and reargument in Kiobel, this 
Court held that, given all the circumstances, the suit could
not be maintained under the ATS.  Kiobel v. Royal Dutch 
Petroleum  Co.,  569  U. S.  108,  114,  124–125  (2013).    The 
rationale  of  the  holding,  however,  was  not  that  the  ATS
does not extend to suits against foreign corporations.  That 
question  was  left  unresolved.  The  Court  ruled,  instead, 
that “all the relevant conduct took place outside the United
States.”  Id., at 124.  Dismissal of the action was required 
based on the presumption against extraterritorial applica-
tion of statutes. 

So  while  this  Court  in  Kiobel  affirmed  the  ruling  that
the  action  there  could  not  be  maintained,  it  did  not  ad-
dress  the  broader  holding  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  that
dismissal  was  required  because  corporations  may  not  be
sued under the ATS.  Still, the courts of the Second Circuit 
deemed that broader holding to be binding precedent.  As 
a  consequence,  in  the  instant  case  the  District  Court  dis-
missed petitioners’ ATS claims based on the earlier Kiobel 
holding  in  the  Court  of  Appeals;  and  on  review  of  the 
dismissal order the Court of Appeals, also adhering to its 
earlier holding, affirmed.  In re Arab Bank, PLC Alien Tort 
Statute  Litigation,  808  F. 3d  144  (2015).    This  Court 
granted  certiorari  in  the  instant  case.    581  U. S.  ___ 
(2017).

Since the Court of Appeals relied on its Kiobel holding in 
the instant case, it is instructive to begin with an analysis
of  that  decision.  The  majority  opinion  in  Kiobel,  written 
by  Judge  Cabranes,  held  that  the  ATS  does  not  apply  to 
alleged international-law violations by a corporation.  621