Alien Tort Claims Act—genocide—war crimes—violations of international law by nonstate actors

Kadic v. Karadzic. 70 F.3d 232, cert, denied, 64 U.S.L.W. 3832 (June 18, 1996)

Bibliographic Data

ID9548695
AuthorsJudith Hippler Bello, Theodore R Posner (Sidley Austin, corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume90
Issue4
Pages658-663
Publication date1996-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of International Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9300 • E-ISSN: 2161-7953
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2203994
OpenAlexW2321097260
LanguageEN
Citations received2

In a suit brought by Bosnian nationals against Radovan Karadzic, die U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that, under the Alien Tort Claims Act, a U.S. district court may exercise jurisdiction over a nonstate actor accused of committing genocide or war crimes in violation of international law. Relying on various international agreements, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions, the court found that, under modern international law, genocide and war crimes are universally condemned regardless of whether the perpetrator is die agent of a state or an independent, nonstate actor. However, the court declined to extend its holding beyond these two categories of international law violations, finding that no similar consensus exists widi respect to more commonplace violations such as torture and summary execution; the current state of international law with respect to these acts concerns state actors only, according to die court

Genocide · Human rights · International law · Jurisdiction · Law of war · Liability · Political science · State (computer science · Tort · Torture · War crime · Corporate Law and Human Rights · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law

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