Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum

On Wednesday, Apr 17, the US Supreme Court has issued its decision on Kiobel. This time, Shell will not be held responsible for violations of human rights in Nigeria. And: Transnational legal opportunities have been curtailed. Human rights advocates are disappointed. New ways will have to be found in order to sue private corporations for human rights violations–with and without relying on the Alien Tort Statute. At the same time, those speaking in the name of private business hail the perpetuation of nation-state jurisdictional boundaries. What a “politics of space”!

“There is a politics of space because space is political” (Henri Levebvre)

A nice collection of positions can be found at the Business & Human Rights website.