The Statute of Limitations for Alien Torts: A Reexamination After Kiobel

The recent Second Circuit ruling in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum that corporations may not be held liable under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS, formerly ATCA) 4 has shaken many human rights activists and internationalists. If this holding is upheld, it will require major reformulation of pending complaints. Although Kiobel may make the road difficult for ATS plaintiffs, the court's insistence on adhering solely to customary international law in determining jurisdictional issues may benefit ATS plaintiffs in other areas, most notably by contributing to the argument against the imposition of a statute of limitations on claims under the ATS.' Contrary to this position, the Ninth Circuit, in Wesley Papa, et al. v. United States and the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, was the first to apply a ten year statute of limitations to ATS claims.6 This holding has been cited in several other cases within the Ninth and Second Circuits.' However, the imposition of time limitations on ATS claims has been rebuffed by other U.S. courts.! This article concludes that not only does imposition of a statute of limitations negate the purpose of the ATS,9 but also the Ninth Circuit's reasoning in favor of time limitations does not hold in the face of Kiobel.10