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⭐Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights: An Overview of the Position Outside the United States
Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights: An Overview of the Position Outside the United States
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1 Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights: An Overview of the Position Outside the United States Richard Meeran* Over the past 17 years, conventional tort litigation has been increasingly successful in holding multinational corporations (MNCs) accountable for human rights violations in developing countries. Further utilisation and development of this approach is all the more imperative in light of uncertainty over the future of such claims in the United States under the Alien Tort Statute The notion of MNC parent company duty of care has gained increasing recognition, notwithstanding the corporate veil obstacle. There is no reason in principle why, like any other legal entity or person, a parent company which is responsible for, or in control of, specific functions at overseas subsidiary operations should not be liable for damage arising from those functions or deficiencies in them. The scale, complexity and media attention arising from these cases constitutes a potentially powerful deterrent against bad practices by MNCs. However, awards of compensation based on those of MNC host states may diminish this deterrent effect. Various factors are critical to victims access to a legal remedy against a parent MNC. Forum non conveniens is a key barrier in most common law states, but not in the European Union. Of fundamental importance is the availability of funding and lawyers willing and able to represent victims in this complex, hugely expensive and risky type of litigation. This is dependent on assessment of the financial viability of cases by victims lawyers, which is in turn influenced, among others, by the existence of legal procedural mechanisms such as class actions, financial costs incentives for victims lawyers, damages levels and global collaboration between victims representatives. If cases survive inevitable legal procedural challenges, MNC cases to-date have been settled before trial due to the high stakes, especially for the MNC, of a trial. Binding legal precedents in this area are generally limited to procedural issues which, albeit of tangential relevance to the substance of a case, are frequently decisive. Drawing on insights gained from tort litigation over the years, this article provides a reflection on these issues. * Partner, Leigh Day & Co (a human rights law firm based in London: since 1991, apart from a stint as Special Counsel at Slater & Gordon Lawyers, Melbourne from 2004 to (2011) 3 City University of Hong Kong Law Review 1 41.2 2 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 I. Context Over the past decade, the Alien Tort Statute 1789 (ATS) 1 domestic legislation which gives the United States (US) courts jurisdiction in cases alleging international human rights violations has generally been viewed as the mechanism with the most promising potential for holding multinational corporations (MNCs) to account for human rights violations in developing countries. In recent years, US public interest lawyers 2 have been at the forefront of developing ATS cases where MNCs are alleged to have been complicit with states in such violations. Perhaps the most notable successes were in two settlements. The first settlement was in Doe v Unocal, 3 a case in which Burmese villagers sued the California-based energy giant for its alleged direct complicity in abuses committed by the Burmese military, being Unocal s partner in a natural gas pipeline joint venture. In 2005, Unocal agreed, in a confidential settlement, to compensate the plaintiffs and provide funds for programmes in Burma to improve living conditions and protect the rights of people from the pipeline region (the exact terms of the settlement are confidential). 4 The second settlement was in Wiwa v Royal Dutch Shell, 5 a case in which it was alleged that Shell was complicit in supporting military operations against the Ogoni and that Shell actively pursued the convictions and execution of the Ogoni Nine, including by bribing witnesses against them. In June 2009, Shell agreed to settle for US$15.5 million, including US$5 million which the plaintiffs donated to a trust to benefit the Ogoni people. 6 However, a majority decision of the US Second Circuit Courts of Appeals in September 2010 may have put a spanner in the works. The Court in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co held that customary international human rights law does not recognise the liability of corporations and consequently MNCs cannot be held liable under the ATS. 7 On 4 February 2011, the Second Circuit of the same court denied reconsideration of this September ruling in Kiobel, holding that the jurisdiction granted by the ATS does not extend to civil actions brought against corporations. 8 The court voted not to rehear the case. This issue is now 1 28 USC These lawyers have represented organisations such as the US Center for Constitutional Rights and EarthRights International F 3d 915 (9th Cir 2001). 4 EarthRights International, Final Settlement Reached in Doe v. Unocal, The Guardian (21 March 2005) <http://www.earthrights.org/legal/final-settlement-reached-doe-v-unocal> (accessed 13 December 2011) WL EarthRights International, Wiwa v Royal Dutch/Shell (Press Release of EarthRights International) <http:// accessed 13 June Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co 621 F 3d 111 (2d Cir 2010). 8 Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co 642 F 3d 379 (2d Cir 2011).3 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 3 being finally resolved by the Supreme Court, 9 since the Eleventh Circuit had reached a contrary result in two different cases, deciding that corporations may be held liable under the ATS. 10 Consequently, at this point in time it would seem timely to consider the state of play with regard to the continued development of more conventional tort law remedies. These too have yielded considerable success over the past decade or so. After briefly highlighting some major MNC tort cases litigated since the mid-1990s in Part II (see the Appendix for details), I examine in Part III the principle of MNC parent company liability. Whereas Part IV reviews key substantive, procedural and practical factors affecting access to justice in MNC home courts, Part V shows how procedural or commercial matters often take precedence over merits in MNC tort litigation cases. II. Use Of Conventional Tort Litigation In general, apart from using the ATS, it is not possible to obtain civil legal redress for human rights violations per se directly against corporations (whether as direct perpetrators or on the grounds of complicity with state perpetrators). Cases against MNCs have been pursued on the basis of tort, specifically the law of negligence or delict, the fundamental objectives of which are to (i) provide a level of compensation to a victim which as much as possible reinstates the victim in the position that he or she would have been in if the negligence had not occurred and (ii) act as a deterrent against future wrongdoing by the perpetrator and others generally. 11 Tort cases against corporations allege harm caused by negligence arising from a breach of a duty of care (rather than, for example, torture or violation of the right to life etc.). Since they involve claims for compensation and are invariably costly, these cases may serve to achieve critical elements of MNCs accountability, namely, monetary redress for victims and deterrence against future human rights violations. An approach entailing allegations of negligence has been criticised for diminishing the significance of the alleged misconduct and harm (whereas the converse criticism has been levelled in some quarters at the use of allegations of fundamental international human rights violations in ATS claims against MNCs). Nevertheless, this approach has the advantage of relatively less complexity and more favourable law on jurisdiction, at least in the European Union (EU). 9 In October 2011, the US Supreme Court admitted a petition to consider whether corporations can be sued under the ATS. 10 Sinaltrainal v Coca-Cola 578 F 3d 1252, 1263 (11th Cir 2009); Romero v Drummond Co, Inc 552 F 3d 1303 (11th Cir 2008). 11 Prior to the use of ATS, US MNC cases had also been pursued on this basis. See, e.g., In re Union Carbide Corporation Gas Plant Disaster at Bhopal, India in December F Supp 842 (1986).4 4 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 This area has developed over the past 17 years and has included the following cases: : Connelly v RTZ Corporation Plc 13 (Namibian uranium mine and throat cancer) : Ngcobo v Thor Chemicals Holdings Ltd & Desmond Cowley 14 (mercury poisoning of South African workers) 1997: OK Tedi litigation against BHP 15 (claim by 30,000 Papua New Guineans for damages to land in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia) : Sithole v Thor Chemicals Holdings & Desmond Cowley 16 (mercury poisoning of South African workers) : Lubbe v Cape Plc 17 (7,500 South African asbestos miners) 2004 present: Hempe & Ors v Anglo American South Africa Ltd 18 (South African gold miners silicosis cases) 2008 present: Litigation for alleged oil pollution damage against Shell commenced in The Hague by Nigerian claimants and Dutch NGO, Milieudefensie July 2011: Guerrero v Monterrico Metals Plc 20 (torture/mistreatment of 33 Peruvian environmental protesters) 2011 present: Bodo Community v Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDS) & Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria) Ltd (SPDC) 21 (claim by a Nigerian fishing community in Ogoniland for environmental damage caused by oil leaks) present: Vava & Ors v Anglo American South Africa Ltd 23 (South African gold miners silicosis mass tort claim in England) 12 The author of this article has conducted most of these cases. 13 [1998] AC Times L Rep 10 November Dagi v BHP [1997] 1 VR WL [1998] CLC 1559 (CA); [2000] 1 WLR 1545 (HL). 18 South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg Case No 18273/ Oguru, Efanga & Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Co Nigeria Ltd No / HA ZA The claimants are represented by Professor L Zegveld and M Uiterwaal. 20 [2009] EWHC 2475; [2010] EWHC Bodo Community v Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Case No HQ11X J Vidal, Shell Accepts Liability for Two Oil Spills in Nigeria The Guardian (London 3 August 2011) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/03/shell-liability-oil-spills-nigeria> accessed 13 December Claim No HQ11X03245.5 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 5 It can be noted that most of these cases relate primarily to violations of socio-economic rather than civil and political rights. Details of the above cases, over which the author has had care and conduct, are contained in the Appendix. III. Parent Company Liability Victims difficulties in obtaining access to justice locally have led to a search for remedies in the home courts of MNCs. This depends on securing jurisdiction in the home courts by pursuing the head office parent company, rather than the local operating subsidiary. 24 It also gives rise to the the corporate veil legal complications: under the principle of separate corporate personality, a parent company is not liable, simply by virtue of being a shareholder, for the conduct of its subsidiaries in which it invests. 25 Were it otherwise, the effect would be to undermine the distinct legal personality which separates a company from its shareholder and to treat the rights or liabilities or activities of a company as the rights or liabilities or activities of its shareholders. 26 The corporate veil can be pierced, for instance on the ground of fraud. In such a case, the subsidiary is treated as the creature of the parent acting on its behalf and the parent company becomes liable on the basis that the subsidiary s conduct should be treated as its conduct. In an attempt to circumvent the corporate veil, allegations in MNC cases in the United Kingdom (UK) have centred on the direct negligence of the parent company for harm caused by its own wrongdoing (in relation to the functions for which it was responsible or over which it had control) instead of or in addition to its responsibility for the negligence of its subsidiaries. The principal allegation is that the parent company breached a duty of care (itself and/or through the conduct of individuals for whom it is vicariously liable) which it owed to individuals affected by its overseas operations (e.g., workers employed by subsidiaries and local communities) and that this breach resulted in harm. Under English law, whether or not a duty arises is dependent on a three-stage test: (a) was the harm foreseeable; (b) was there sufficient proximity between the parties; and (c) is it fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty of care? 27 The issue of the duty of care of an MNC parent company was formulated by the English Court of Appeal in Lubbe as follows: Whether a parent company which is proved to exercise de facto control over the operations of a (foreign) subsidiary and which knows, through 24 Note that the Trafigura case for victims of toxic waste dumping in Côte d Ivoire was atypical in this respect as it involved the UK head office company itself and no subsidiary. Yao Essaie Motto & Ors v Trafigura Ltd & Trafigura Beheer BV HQ06X See Salomon v Salomon and Co Ltd [1897] AC 22; Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1991] 1 All ER Atlas Maritime Co SA v Avalon Maritime Ltd (No. 1) [1991] 4 All ER Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman [1990] 1 All ER 568 (HL).6 6 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 its directors, that those operations involve risks to the health of workers employed by the subsidiary and/or persons in the vicinity of its factory or other business premises, owes a duty of care to those workers and/or other persons in relation to the control which it exercises over and the advice which it gives to the subsidiary company? 28 The concept of product liability reflects a universal recognition of sufficient proximity between a manufacturer and a consumer so as to impose a legal duty of care notwithstanding the absence of a contractual relationship. Similarly, there should be no principled objection to the imposition of a duty of care on an MNC parent that has an integral involvement in controlling, managing or designing operations and processes which it is foreseeable may adversely affect workers, communities or the environment at or in the vicinity of its overseas operations. 29 Moreover, the imposition of a duty of care is consistent with the moral obligation that many MNCs themselves seem to have acknowledged for decades: The aim of the group is, and will remain, to make profits for our shareholders, but to do it in such a way as to make a lasting contribution to the communities in which we operate. 30 Key negligence allegations against the parent MNC in the some of the above and other cases were as follows: Thor Chemicals Holdings Ltd: Negligent design and transfer of hazardous chemical technology to South Africa and negligent monitoring and supervision of the health of South African workers by the parent company as well as by directors and employees for whose conduct it was vicariously liable (see the Appendix). Connelly: It was alleged that RTZ had devised RUL s [the Namibian subsidiary] policy on health, safety and the environment, or alternatively had advised RUL as to the contents of the policy. It was further alleged that an employee or employees of RTZ, referred to as RTZ supervisors, implemented the policy and supervised health, safety and/or environmental protection at the mine. 31 (See the Appendix.) Lubbe: Negligent exercise of its effective control of health and safety at its South African subsidiaries asbestos mining operations (see the Appendix). Gold Miners Silicosis Litigation against Anglo American: Negligent control over mining operations and/or negligent advice given to mining subsidiaries pursuant to technical service contracts between the parent and the mining subsidiaries, in particular relating to medical and dust prevention systems (see the Appendix). 28 Lubbe (CA) (n 17) R Meeran, Process Liability of Multinationals: Overcoming the Forum Hurdle (November 1995) Journal of Personal Injury Litigation Anglo American, 1954 Annual Report (London 1954) (per E Oppenheimer). 31 Connelly (n 13) 864.7 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 7 OK Tedi Litigation: Negligent management of subsidiary operations resulting in damage to the land by tailings from a gold/copper mine. 32 Shell-Nigeria Litigation in the Netherlands: Negligence in relation to the control of the Nigerian operations, maintenance of pipelines and supervision of clean-up of oil spills. The May 2008 subpoena against Shell alleges that the parent MNC is liable essentially because (i) it owed a duty of care to the Nigerian farmers (the potential harm was foreseeable), and (ii) it had the power to ensure that adequate steps were taken to avoid the harm, but it breached that duty by failing to ensure that the appropriate safeguards were taken. The subpoena specifically cites Lubbe and Connelly as legal authorities supporting the existence of a duty of care. Peruvian torture victims litigation against Monterrico Metals: Negligent management and control of the response to an environmental protest and the treatment of detained protesters (based primarily on alleged violations of the Peruvian Civil Code 1984; see the Appendix). The issue of parent company liability has not, however, been subject to a final determination in any of the above MNC cases, which were either settled before trial (e.g., Thor Chemicals) or struck out for other reasons (e.g., Connelly). A positive decision (though not a determination) in respect of parent company liability was the dismissal of an attempted strike out application by Thor Chemicals in 1996, where the Court held that it was clear on the face of it that the statement of claim without consideration of evidence discloses a reasonable cause or causes of action against the parent company and that the evidence went well beyond establishing a clear evidential basis for liability against the parent company. 33 Although the Connelly action was ultimately struck out on the grounds of limitation, the Rio Tinto failed in its attempt to strike the case out for lack of a cause of action, as Justice Wright ruled that: On a fair reading of this pleading, it seems to me that [RTZ] had taken into its own hands the responsibility for devising an appropriate policy for health and safety to be operated at the Rossing mine, and that either [RTZ] or one or other of its English subsidiaries implemented that policy and supervised the precautions necessary to ensure so far as was reasonably possible, the health and safety of the Rossing employees through the RTZ supervisors. Such an allegation, if true, seems to me to impose a duty of care upon those defendants who undertook those responsibilities, whatever contribution Rossing itself may have made towards the safety procedures in the mine. The situation would be an unusual one; but if the pleading represents the actuality then, as it seems to me, the situation is likely to give rise to a duty of care Dagi (n15). 33 Ngcobo v Thor Chemicals Holdings Ltd (unreported 1996) (Maurice Kay J). 34 Connelly v RTZ Corporation Plc (unreported December 1998).8 8 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 Consistent with the notion that parent company liability may stem from the functions over which it has assumed responsibility, the judgment contained the following analysis: Mr Spencer asserts that no other person other than the plaintiff s actual employer can owe the duty owed by a master to his servant to the plaintiff. As a matter of strict language this may well be true; but that is not to say that in appropriate circumstances there may not be some other person or persons who owe a duty of care to an individual plaintiff which may be very close to the duty owed by a master to his servant. For example, the consultant who advises the employer upon the safety of his work processes may owe a duty to the individual employee who he can foresee may be affected by the contents of that advice see, for example, Clay v Crumb and Sons Limited [1964] 1 QB 533. Even more clearly, if the situation is that an employer has entirely handed over responsibility for devising, installing and operating the various safety precautions required of an employer to an independent contractor, then that contractor may owe a duty to the individual employee which is virtually coterminous with that of the employer himself. That is not to say that the employer, by so handing over such responsibility, will necessarily escape his own liability to his employee. 35 The Australian case of CSR Ltd v Wren, 36 though not an MNC case, was a claim by a mesothelioma victim employed by Asbestos Products Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of CSR Ltd. The New South Wales Court of Appeal held that the essential question in the case was whether the relationship between CSR and Mr Wren were such as to give rise to a duty of care in CSR to protect Mr Wren from the risk of foreseeable injury. 37 The majority in Wren made it clear that the decision was clearly based within the law of tort, and did not do violence to the corporate veil principle, The Court held that the reason CSR was liable in the circumstances here is because it brought itself into a relationship with the employees of Asbestos Products Pty Ltd by placing its staff in the role of management at Asbestos Products Pty Ltd. 38 In other words, CSR s liability was based on its negligent control of the operations of the employer. A landmark decision of the UK Court of Appeal in Chandler v Cape Plc [2012] EWCA Civ 525 significantly clarified and advanced UK law on parent company liability. The claimant sued for asbestosis contracted as a result of exposure to dust during his employment by Cape Products, a subsidiary of Cape Plc. He alleged that Cape Plc owed him a duty of care, inter alia, because it employed a medical and a scientific officer responsible for overseeing health and safety across the group including at Cape Products. An essential issue at trial was [w]hether Cape was proved to have assumed responsibility 35 Ibid. 36 (1998) 44 NSWLR Ibid. 38 Ibid.9 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 9 for the safety of the employees of its subsidiary, Cape Products, so as to give rise to a relevant duty of care owed by Cape to Mr Chandler to prevent the exposure of which he complained [para 33]. The Court held that the conventional three-part Caparo [Caparo Industries v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605] test of foreseeability of harm, proximity and reasonableness applied to a parent company just as it did to an individual. The Court specifically noted that it had been held in Connelly and Ngcobo that it was arguable that a parent company may owe a duty of care to employees. The Court in Chandler held [para 66] that if a parent company has responsibility towards the employees of a subsidiary there may not be an exact correlation between the responsibilities of the two companies. The parent company is not likely to accept responsibility towards its subsidiary s employees in all respects but only for example in relation to what might be called high level advice or strategy. Regarding the defendant s contention that imposing liability would require a lifting of the corporate veil, the Court emphatically rejected any suggestion that this court is in any way concerned with what is usually referred to as piercing the corporate veil. It observed [paras 69-70]: A subsidiary and its company are separate entities. There is no imposition or assumption of responsibility by reason only that a company is the parent company of another company. The question is simply whether what the parent company did amounted to taking on a direct duty to the subsidiary s employees. The Court in Chandler held [para 78] that it in view of Cape s superior knowledge about the nature and management of asbestos risks, it was appropriate to find that Cape assumed a duty of care either to advise Cape Products on what steps it had to take in the light of knowledge then available to provide those employees with a safe system of work or to ensure that those steps were taken. In paragraph 80, the Court of Appeal concluded that: in appropriate circumstances the law may impose on a parent company responsibility for the health and safety of its subsidiary s employees. Those circumstances include a situation where, as in the present case, (1) the businesses of the parent and subsidiary are in a relevant respect the same; (2) the parent has, or ought to have, superior knowledge on some relevant aspect of health and safety in the particular industry; (3) the subsidiary s system of work is unsafe as the parent company knew, or ought to have known; and (4) the parent knew or ought to have foreseen that the subsidiary or its employees would rely on its using that superior knowledge for the employees protection. For the purposes of (4) it is not necessary to show that the parent is in the practice of intervening in the health and safety policies of the subsidiary. The court will look at the relationship between the companies more widely. The court may find that element (4) is established where the evidence shows that the parent has a practice of intervening in the trading operations of the subsidiary, for example production and funding issues. It is worth noting that the Court of Appeal in Chandler acknowledged [para 2] that this is one of the first cases in which an employee has established at trial liability to him on the10 10 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 part of his employer s parent company, and thus this appeal is of some importance not only to the parties but to other cases. As a result of this ruling, there can be no principled legal objection, under UK law, to the imposition of a legal duty of care on a parent company. But whether or not such a duty should be imposed will depend on the facts of each case and consequently there will be instances where the degree of involvement and control by the parent company warrant the imposition of such as duty and other instances where it does not. Of course, in an MNC context where a claim is likely to be governed by local law the Chandler decision will have its greatest influence on MNC operations in states with English-law based tort systems. The invariable settlement (or termination) of cases that might result in a positive finding of parent company liability and judgement against an MNC is undoubtedly frustrating for academic lawyers and campaigners. But it reflects the financial realities and risks to MNCs, the claimants and the claimants lawyers of not settling. Unless an MNC is confident of a resounding victory and that no significant evidence damaging to its reputation will emerge at trial, the risk of going to trial usually makes little commercial sense. The primary objective of claimants is usually to obtain the maximum amount of compensation as speedily as possible. 39 Claimants lawyers, whose resources and cash flow can be stretched to the limit by such cases, may also feel under pressure to settle. In the claim against Shell by the Ogoniland Bodo Community, liability has been admitted by Shell s Nigerian subsidiary but not by Royal Dutch Shell. 40 In July 2011, the case against Monterrico Metals, which had been scheduled for a ten week trial in the English High Court in October 2011, was also settled without admission of liability (see the Appendix). IV. Factors Affecting Access to Justice in MNC Home Courts Due to the inability to fund lawyers and experts to represent them in their local courts, often the only prospect of obtaining justice in claims against MNCs is to pursue claims in their home courts, where victims may obtain the services of lawyers in a position to represent them on a contingency fee or pro bono basis. 41 MNC home courts will have jurisdiction over a claim against a parent company domiciled in their jurisdiction, but victims access to such a remedy will depend on a combination of substantive, procedural and practical factors, in particular: (a) the extent to which the MNC home courts are able to decline to exercise jurisdiction; (b) the law by reference to which the liability of the parent company is to be determined; and (c) other 39 During the course of the seven years of litigation, approximately 1,000 of the 7,500 claimants died before receiving any compensation. 40 See Vidal (n 22). 41 In many instances, there are of course other reasons why justice may be inaccessible locally, for example, persecution of claimants and corruption.11 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 11 procedural and practical factors affecting the financial viability of litigation and victims lawyers ability and willingness to act. A. Forum Non Conveniens and Jurisdiction The forum non conveniens principle serves as a procedural means of restricting the exercise of extra-territorial jurisdiction to cases that have their closest connection with the country in which the proceedings have been instituted. The question is essentially whether there is a more appropriate forum for the trial than the MNC home court in which the ends of justice can be served. Under English law, answering this question involves the application of a two-stage test: is there a clearly and distinctly more appropriate forum; if yes, are there nevertheless reasons why justice requires that the MNC home court should retain jurisdiction? The Connelly, Lubbe and Thor Chemicals litigation in the UK became bogged down for years with forum non conveniens. In Connelly, the House of Lords laid down the principle that a claimant who would be denied substantial justice in her local courts, due to the inability to pay for lawyers and experts to pursue a case, but who was able to obtain such representation in the courts where she had instigated her claim, would be allowed to proceed with her claim, even though the local courts were otherwise the more appropriate venue: [T]he availability of financial assistance in this country coupled with its non-availability in the appropriate forum, may exceptionally be a relevant factor in this context. The question, however, remains whether the plaintiff can establish that substantial justice will not in the particular circumstances of the case be done if the plaintiff has to proceed in the appropriate forum where no financial assistance is available Application of the Connelly principle (after three years of hearings up and down the court system) enabled the Lubbe claimants to finally overcome forum non conveniens and continue with their claim in England three years later 43 (see the Appendix). The test applied by the UK and Canadian courts appears to be the same. 44 In the case of Recherches Internationales Quebec v Cambior Inc, 45 the court dismissed proceedings, on the grounds of forum non conveniens, brought by a public interest group against a Canadian mining company following the spill of cyanide-contaminated tailings at a site occupied by its subsidiary in Guyana. On the other hand, the decision in Somji v Somji (a 42 Connelly (n 13) Lubbe (HL) (n 17). 44 Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex Ltd [1987] AC 460; Amchem Products Inc v British Columbia (Workers Compensation Board) (1993) 1 SCR [1998] QJ No 2554 (Superior Court of Quebec, Canada).12 12 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 dispute over matrimonial property in Tanzania) gives some cause for optimism. 46 In that case, a judge in Alberta decided that Alberta was the better forum for a dispute involving Tanzanian law: I conclude that the United Republic of Tanzania presently faces significant governance issues which include, in the words of the national web site found at financial mismanagement; corruption; poor accountability; an overloaded and inefficient legal system; ambivalence in sanctioning the fundamental human rights; erosion of meritocracy in public service; tax evasion and unnecessary bureaucratic procedures. 47 More recently, an application by Anvil Mining to stay proceedings on the ground that the courts of Australia or the Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC) were more appropriate fora was dismissed by the Superior Court of Quebec on 28 April The Court held that everything indicates that if the court were to refuse to accept the application [for a class action] there would be no other possibility for the victims claims to be heard. 49 The decision was, however, reversed on 24 January 2012 by the Quebec Court of Appeal which held that it had no jurisdiction in a claim against the Canadian parent. 50 In the present context, it held that jurisdiction should not be exercised on the grounds of forum necessitatis 51 because there was no proof that the victims could not pursue their claims in the DRC or Australia. The Australian approach to the forum non conveniens principle is more favourable to claimants in that the burden is on the defendant to show that the Australian court is a clearly inappropriate forum, rather than to show that the local court is a clearly more appropriate forum. 52 Even when the law of a foreign country has to be applied to decide a case, Australia would not be a clearly inappropriate forum for hearing the matter ABQB. 47 Ibid [57]. 48 Association Canadienne Contre L impunité v Anvil Mining [2011] JQ No 4382, A case in which Congolese villagers allege complicity by the parent company in a massacre and other serious human rights violations committed by the Congolese military in Ibid. 50 Anvil Mining v Association Canadienne Contre L impunité 2012 QCCA 117. An appeal against this decision has been filed before the Supreme Court of Canada. 51 A safety-net provision under the Quebec Civil Code which provides that on an exceptional basis the court will have jurisdiction, where this would not otherwise be the case, if no other forum, with which the dispute is closely connected is available. A similar provision has been proposed in the Green Paper of the European Commission on the review of the Brussels I Regulation on jurisdiction and recognition of enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters: COM(2009) 175 Final. 52 Voth v Manildra Flour Mills Pty Ltd (1990) 171 CLR Renault SA v Zhang (2002) 210 CLR 491.13 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 13 Neither the Canadian nor the Australian courts appears to have endorsed the Connelly principle yet. The upshot is that claimants who are unable, for financial reasons, to secure access to justice in their local courts may still be denied a hearing in Canada and Australia. MNC claimants suing under the ATS have been somewhat cushioned against the effects of forum non conveniens, because significant weight is given to the United States strong public interest in adjudicating international human rights violations. 54 Forum non conveniens was applied to harsh effect in claims brought in tort law, the dismissal of the Bhopal claims by the New York District Court perhaps providing the most striking example. 55 Should claims against MNCs under the ATS be barred, MNC claimants in the US courts will again face the same forum hurdle. With regard to the EU, subject to exceptions that are irrelevant for present purposes, European law stipulates that a defendant shall be sued in its domicile, 56 and that the domicile of a company is in the location of its corporate headquarters or its registered office. 57 Apart from the UK, the courts of other EU states have interpreted this rule strictly. Thus, in the Shell Nigeria litigation in the Netherlands, 58 the Dutch court had mandatory jurisdiction over the claim against the Netherlands-based parent company, Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, was a co-defendant in the proceedings. Shell challenged jurisdiction, among others, on the grounds that the Dutch court only had jurisdiction over SPDC by virtue of the claim against Royal Dutch Shell, and that the claim against the latter was tenuous and had only been pursued to enable the claim against SPDC to proceed. In its judgment on 30 December 2009, the Court of The Hague dismissed Shell s challenge, concluding that the claim against the parent company was not unsound or certain to fail, that the same complex facts in Nigeria must be assessed in respect of the claims against both defendants, and that accordingly that the court had international jurisdiction over SPDC. 59 However, until 2005, the English courts had interpreted Article 2 of the Brussels Regulation as allowing dismissal of a case against a UK-domiciled defendant in circumstances where there was a more appropriate forum located in a non-eu state. 60 It 54 Wiwa v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co 226 F 3d 88 (2d Cir 2000). 55 In re Union Carbide (n 11). 56 Brussels Regulation on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Brussels I Regulation), Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000, art A company is domiciled where it has its principal place of business, statutory seat or central administration (art 60). Brussels I Regulation, ibid. 58 Oguru, Efanga & Milieudefensie v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Co Nigeria Ltd No / HA ZA Ibid. There is a similar procedural principle in the UK which enables the joinder of a foreign subsidiary to a claim against a UK parent if the subsidiary is a necessary and proper party. Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (UK), Practice Direction 6B s 3.1(3)(b). 60 In re Harrods (Buenos Aires) Ltd [1992] Ch 72.14 14 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 was on this basis that the English courts entertained forum non conveniens applications in the Connelly, Thor Chemicals and Lubbe cases (which involved UK-domiciled defendants). 61 A decision of the European Court of Justice (the highest court across the EU, the decisions of which are binding on the courts of all EU states) in 2005 clarified that the national courts of the EU (including those of the UK) did not have the power to halt proceedings on the grounds of forum non conveniens in cases brought against EU domiciled defendants, where the alternative venue was outside the EU. 62 Consequently, forum non conveniens is no longer an issue in the UK in these MNC cases and that is the reason why the litigation in Trafigura and Monterrico was not plagued by this obstacle. Litigation commenced by South African silicosis victims against Anglo American South Africa Ltd was commenced in the English High Court in September The defendant is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the London-based mining giant, Anglo American Plc. The claimants contend that the central administration or principal place of business of the defendant is in London and that accordingly, by virtue of Article 60(1) (b)/(c) of the Brussels I Regulation, Anglo American South Africa Ltd is domiciled in the UK. Anglo is challenging UK jurisdiction. B. MNC Home or Host State Substantive Law? Whereas the ATS cases are based on alleged violation international human rights law, conventional tort cases involving a foreign element may be governed by the law of an MNC s home or host state. Insofar as the latter may be less stringent than the former in terms of human rights protection, application of the latter could be seen as endorsing double standards. Whether or not this might also be regarded as an obstacle to justice would seem to depend on the law in question. This issue is considered further below by reference to specific examples. But to take an obvious example, a situation in which an MNC operating the same process in two countries where the relevant health and safety at work standards were different would seem to pose an obvious impediment to justice to workers subject to the less stringent standards. The general experience, however, indicates that it is usually the lack of enforcement of local laws and regulations, rather than the content of the local laws per se, that is unsatisfactory and encourages double standards. In tort cases, European jurisdictions have generally required the application of the substantive (not procedural) law of the place where the tort was committed. 64 The current 61 It was however contended, on behalf of the claimants in Cape Plc, that the UK courts had no power to apply the forum non conveniens principle to a case involving a UK defendant. In its ruling, the House of Lords concluded that the position was not acte clair and that had the Court found in Cape s favour, they would have referred the issue to the European Court of Justice for resolution. 62 Owusu v Jackson [2005] ECR Vava & Others v Anglo American South Africa Ltd Claim No. HQ11X0324. See also the Appendix. 64 L Collins (gen ed), Dicey, Morris and Collins on the Conflict of Laws, (14th edn, Sweet & Maxwell, London 2006)15 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 15 position within the EU is that the applicable law in tort claims will usually be the law of the country where the damage occurs irrespective of the country in which the event giving rise to the damage occurred unless the tort is manifestly more closely connected with another country. 65 In cases concerning MNCs, this means that the law of the host state will usually apply. However in claims for environmental damage, the claimant may elect to have the claim governed by the law of the country where the event giving rise to the damage occurred. 66 In common law jurisdictions other than the UK, the law of the place of the tort will generally be the governing law. 67 The choice of law may be largely immaterial where the relevant laws of the MNC home and host states are essentially the same. For example, in the case of South Africa or Namibia, the law of delict utilises concepts of legal duty, negligence and wrongfulness, which although not entirely corresponding to the concepts of duty of care and breach of duty in English law are likely, when applied to specific factual situations, to produce the same result. 68 Neither may the choice of law be significant where the laws of an MNC s host and home states, albeit having a different basis, in essence require proof of the same facts. The Monterrico case was formulated on the basis of both the English law of negligence and under the Peruvian Civil Code. It is understood that the Code provides for fault-based liability of individuals who cause harm (Article 1969), liability for someone who incites or aids another in causing harm (Article 1978), vicarious liability for someone in control of another who causes harm (Article 1981), and joint liability of individuals whose conduct causes harm in combination (Article 1983). Thus, on the face of it, the Code provides a mechanism (akin to negligence) for liability for harm caused by the conduct of individual MNC employees, their employers and their employers in conjunction with the state perpetrators. The liability of the parent company, Monterrico, for any wrongdoing seemed to turn on a factual analysis of whether a relationship of effective control over aspects relevant to causation of harm is proved. Consequently, establishing legal responsibility, including overcoming the corporate veil obstacle, would on that basis seem to present essentially the same set of challenges under the Peruvian Civil Code as it does under English law. 65 Section 11(2)(a) of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995 and (from 11 July 2007) Article 4 of the Rome II Regulation on the Law Applicable to Non-contractual Obligations, No 864/ Rome II Regulation, ibid art For instance, the Supreme Court of Canada in Tolofson v Jensen [1994] 3 SCR 1022 stated that exceptions might be required in international cases in order to avoid injustice. See also the decision of the High Court of Australia in Regie National des Usines Renault SA v Zhang (2002) 210 CLR Although note that in the gold miners silicosis litigation, which is being litigated under South African law, it is alleged that legal duty must be determined in light of provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 s 24, which provides: Everyone has the right (a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being.16 16 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 As indicated above, Article 1969 of the Peruvian Civil Code presents the possibility of individual employees, such as directors, being held liable for harm caused by their fault. The principle under English law is that a director who personally directs and procures a company to commit a tort is herself liable to the victim no less than the company. 69 In the Thor Chemicals case, the High Court held (in the context of a strike-out application) that there was ample evidence on which the trial judge might find the chairman and co-defendant, Cowley, liable on this basis. 70 So here too, in the Monterrico case, the differences between the laws of the MNC home and host states seemed to be of limited relevance. However, a civil action against individual MNC directors is rarely utilised. This is no doubt partly because the company is more likely to be in a position to afford to pay damages than an employee/director. The choice of applicable law may, however, be very significant in certain situations. For example, the limitation period in tort claims is three years under the English law, two years under the Peruvian law, 71 thirty years under the law of the DRC, 72 and ten years under the Colombian law. 73 It does not necessarily follow that simply because a foreign limitation period is shorter than that of the MNC home state, this constitutes an obstacle to justice. Limitation is treated as a matter of substantive law in the UK by virtue of the Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984, and consequently in a foreign tort case, the foreign limitation period will generally apply. The Act does, however, allow the court to disregard a foreign limitation if its application would constitute undue hardship or be contrary to public policy. 74 A case brought in England against T&N, an MNC, by an asbestos victim who worked at T&N s subsidiary factory in Quebec was struck out where the Court of Appeal held that the law of Quebec (which had a one year limitation period) was not unduly harsh or contrary to public policy and should apply. 75 Another situation when the choice of applicable law will become critical is where claims may be barred by the law of the host or home state, for example under workmen s compensation law barring claims against an employer (defined under South African law to include anyone controlling the business of the employer 76 ). This bar was raised in the Connelly, Thor Chemicals and Lubbe litigation. It also led to the barring of a claim brought in Australia against an Australian parent company by an asbestos victim employed by its 69 Evans v Spritebrand Ltd [1985] 1 WLR Ngcobo (n 33). 71 Peruvian Civil Code 1984 art 2011(4). 72 Congolese Civil Code art Colombian Civil Code art 41. Law 153 stipulates 20 years, which was reduced to 10 years under Law 791 in English Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984 s 2(2). 75 Durham v T&N Plc (unreported, 1 May 1996). 76 Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 1993 s35.17 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 17 New Zealand subsidiary. 77 It was originally raised by Anglo in the gold miners silicosis litigation. 78 A decision of the South African Constitutional Court on 3 March 2011, however, held that this bar did not apply to miners whose claims were subject to payment of compensation under different legislation, under which the amounts of payments were significantly less. 79 Thus, the bar in the South African legislation has been held not to apply, thereby removing what would otherwise constitute an obstacle to justice. Given that the objectives of MNC human rights litigation are to provide monetary compensation for victims and a financial deterrent against bad practices, the impact of choice of law on the level of damages awards is critical. A recent detrimental development for claimants suing in the EU is the coming into effect of provisions of European law which will require damages to be assessed in accordance with the law and procedure of the country where the harm occurred. 80 Previously, the position under English law was that damages would be assessed in accordance with the law and procedure of the country in which the case was proceeding, even if the claim was governed by local law. 81 For the reasons indicated in the section below, this provision also has potentially serious implications for access to justice. As indicated above, allegations of negligence have formed the basis of claims against the parent company. To base a claim on the law of an MNC s home state is consistent with the contention that the alleged harm arose as a result of bad decisions and actions that emanated from the headquarters. 82 Moreover, in cases brought in the home courts of an MNC, a strategic reason for arguing that the applicable law should be that of the MNC home state, may be to counter the inevitable opposite contention by the MNC that the claim should be governed by the law of the host state, where the claimants reside and the harm was done, and that this is a reason why the MNC s home courts should decline jurisdiction in favour of the local courts. 83 From the above analysis, it is clear that differences between home and host state law may be virtually immaterial or highly significant, depending upon the given legal matrix. C. Costs and Resources In considering the potential for legal action in the home courts of MNCs, the relevance of financial resources, constraints and incentives for claimants lawyers cannot be overstated. 77 James Hardie & Coy Pty Limited v Putt Matter [1998] NSWSC See the Appendix. 79 Thembekile Mankayi v AngloGold Ashanti Limited [2011] ZACC Rome II Regulation (n 65) arts 4 and Harding v Wealands [2006] UKHL Ngcobo (n 14). Deputy High Court Judge James Stewart QC held that, by reason of the connections with Thor s Margate factory, English, rather than South African law was likely to apply. 83 This issue related to the doctrine of forum non conveniens remains live in common law countries other than the UK, which is subject to the Brussels Regulation I (n 56).18 18 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 The fact of the matter is that, barring a few exceptions, claimants lawyers in MNCs home states have shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for undertaking such cases. The reasons are clear: these cases are complex, risky, hard-fought by MNCs and resourceintensive. Therefore, they are expensive to fund, of uncertain duration and outcome and have significant cash flow implications for the claimants lawyers (the MNC lawyers, by contrast, are funded on an on-going basis, irrespective of the outcome). Furthermore, the magnitude of the financial risk is that only lawyers who are experienced in this field are likely to feel sufficiently confident to take the risk (or put it another way, the perceived risk for lawyers who are new to this field is even greater). That said, if these cases succeed, they may potentially be very profitable, thereby increasing the financial incentive for claimants lawyers with experience and sufficient resources to take on such cases. 84 The Connelly, Lubbe and Thor Chemicals cases were publicly funded by the UK Legal Services Commission. This meant that the claimants lawyers received a regular stream of funding for expenses and legal fees, albeit not at very high rates. 85 Cases are now run on a no-win-no-fee basis, a system authorised by legislation in the UK, 86 Australia 87 and South Africa, 88 which means that lawyers are paid only if they win, but if they do win they may charge an uplift fee on their costs. The US-style contingency fee agreements, by which lawyers are entitled to a share of a claimant s damages, are expressly prohibited in these countries. However, it is understood that such damages-sharing agreements are permissible in Canada (at least in Ontario). 89 A further benefit to claimants suing in the UK has been that the costs uplift (or success fee ) is payable by the unsuccessful defendant, rather than from the claimant s compensation. 90 However, the UK government is about to implement recommendations for fundamental reform of the civil costs system, including abolishing the right of successful claimants to recover success fees from the defendant. 91 Success fees, if they were to be paid, would then need to be deducted from claimants damages (as is the case, for example, in Australia and South Africa). This, combined with the introduction of Articles 4 and 15 of the Rome II Regulation which is likely to produce a significant reduction in damages awards for 84 In Europe, Australia and South Africa, claimants lawyers tend to form the less wealthy end of the legal profession. Commercial law firms, which undertake a variety of impressive pro bono work in the UK, Australia and South Africa, would be ideally placed, in terms of resources and expertise, to undertake these MNC cases but as they represent MNCs, they would invariably be reluctant to act or even conflicted out of acting. 85 Obtaining such public funding in the UK is no longer realistic. 86 Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (UK) ss 58 and 58A. 87 See, e.g., Legal Profession Act 2004 (Vic) ss and Contingency Fees Act 1997 (South Africa). 89 McIntyre Estate v Ontario (Attorney General) [2001] OJ 713 (Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, Canada). 90 CPR (n 59), Practice Direction to Part 44 s Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, implementing the January 2010 report, Review of Civil Litigation Costs, of Lord Justice Jackson.19 2011 ] Tort Litigation against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human Rights 19 developing country claimants would effectively rule out recovery of success fees in MNC litigation and consequently reduce the incentive for UK lawyers to take on such cases. Equally significant for these MNC cases is the recommended proposed stricter application of the proportionality principle. 92 Due to the complex and protracted nature of this litigation, legal costs are often substantially higher than compensation. If a successful claimant s legal costs can only be recovered from an MNC to the extent that they correspond to the level of compensation and the level of compensation is reduced (by the Rome II Regulation) in line with compensation in the MNC s host state, then this will serve as a powerful deterrent against claimants lawyers undertaking these cases. 93 D. Class or Group Actions For claimants and claimants lawyers, the Australian and Canadian legal systems have a potential advantage of providing for class actions, that is, a representative claimant may sue for the benefit of a group of individuals falling within the class definition. Once instituted, a class action suspends the limitation period for all class members. Such a mechanism is potentially speedier and far less costly and thus presents less of a financial disincentive for claimants lawyers. In Australia, class action legislation has been passed in Victoria, 94 though the main OK Tedi litigation was not brought as a class action. 95 The proposal to introduce an amendment to permit class action in the near future in the New South Wales has also been announced. 96 Australia has class action legislation at a federal level too, 97 but MNC litigation based primarily on common law negligence is generally unlikely to have a federal element and would therefore need to be brought in state courts. Having said that, the recent Australian class action relating to anti-arthritic drug Vioxx was pursued against US manufacturer Merck & Co Inc in the Federal Court alleging breaches of consumer product safety law under the Trades Practices Act. 98 In Canada, it is understood that class actions are permissible in nine out of ten provinces. Two class actions against tobacco manufacturers are presently put in train in the Superior Court of Quebec The overriding objective includes dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate (i) to the amount of money involved; (ii) to the importance of the case; (iii) to the complexity of the issues; and (iv) to the financial position of each party. CPR (n 59) r R Meeran, Multinationals will Profit from the Government s Civil Litigation Shake-up The Guardian (London 24 May 2011) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2011/may/24/civillitigation-multinationals> accessed 24 May Supreme Court Act 1986 (Vic) Part 4A. 95 Dagi (n 15). 96 Civil Procedure Amendment (Supreme Court Representative Proceedings) Bill 2010, <http://www. legislation.nsw.gov.au/exposure/archive/b d05.pdf> accessed 13 December Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) Part IVA. 98 Peterson v Merck Sharpe & Dohme (Aust) Pty Ltd [2011] FCAFC 128, a case which the author initiated in Victoria, Australia. 99 Lauzon Bélanger Lespérance Avocats, Class Action: JTI-MacDonald & al. (Subscription to Class Action) <http://lblavocats.ca/en/class-actions/tobacco-victims/active/jti-macdonald.php> accessed 4 October 2011.20 20 City University of Hong Kong Law Review [ Vol 3:1 Both the Australian and Canadian class action systems are of the opt out variety, meaning that members of the class are included in (and bound by) the outcome of the action unless they opt out. This also enables key legal issues to be resolved without instructions having to be taken from a large number of individual claimants, thereby reducing the level of legal resources required (and their financial disincentive for claimants lawyers). The UK does not have class actions as such, 100 which may partly explain why the Vioxx litigation and the tobacco litigation, pursued respectively in Australia and Canada, have not got off the ground in the UK. However, the UK procedural rules do provide special procedures for the cost-effective case management of group actions. 101 UK group actions are essentially of the opt in variety, which means that commencement of legal action on behalf of a small number of individuals does not stop the limitation clock from running for the remainder of the group. This in turn implies that instructions must be taken from all members of the group, thereby increasing the costs and decreasing the financial viability (in comparison with proper class actions). E. Global Collaboration on Behalf of Victims A positive development over the past decade has been the increasing global collaboration between public interest lawyers and human rights campaigners in MNC litigation. This has undoubtedly been facilitated by internet communication methods. The litigation in the Monterrico case illustrates this. This case was referred to by the US-based Environmental Defender Law Center; 102 it involved Peruvian human rights organisation, Fedepaz, 103 and its umbrella organisation, Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos; 104 Hong Kong commercial lawyers 105 acted for the claimants to secure, from the Hong Kong High Court, an ancillary freezing injunction in aid of the English freezing injunction; and Swedish lawyers acted for the claimants in securing the implementation, by the Stockholm s Tingsratt Court, of a request made by the English High Court for obtaining evidence from the Sweden-based MNC Securitas, the parent company of Forza (Peru), which provided security personnel at the Rio Blanco mine at the time of the alleged human rights violations CPR 19.6 does, however, provide for representative proceedings in which one person may claim on behalf of himself and others with the same interest. CPR (n 59). 101 Ibid Part Environmental Defender Law Center, Home Page <http://www.edlc.org> accessed 8 August Fedepaz, Home Page <http://www.fedepaz.org> accessed 8 August Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Home Page <http://derechoshumanos.pe> accessed 8 August Gall, Home Page <http://gallhk.com> and barrister, Yang-Wahn Hew <http://dvc.hk/members/view/34> accessed 4 October The request was made pursuant to the European Regulation on Cooperation between Courts of Member States in the Taking of Evidence in Civil or Commercial Matters, Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 art 4. View more
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