Civil Liability in Australia for International Human Rights Violations

Abstract

Peter Cashman reviews the current state of play in Australia regarding the imposition of civil liability on multinationals for human rights abuses and environmental damage occurring overseas. He considers cases based on a direct tort law-based duty of care and the relevance in that regard of developments in English law and also environmental damage associated with the operations of Australian multinationals, in particular the historic OK Tedi litigation against BHP Billiton and the recent class action trial of the claim by Indonesian seaweed farmers arising from the Montara oil spill. Important aspects of the law on jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, and choice of law and the opt-out class action regime in federal and State courts are outlined. The rules relating to the running of cases by private law firms and third party litigation funders on the basis of contingency fee agreements are explained