Big business vs. human rights: SCOTUS wants to hear more

Last week I wrote about the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, which raises the question of whether U.S. corporations can be held liable for complicity in human rights abuses committed abroad. The U.S. Supreme Court was to hear arguments in the case on February 28.

In follow-up to the February 28 arguments, SCOTUS has decided to schedule the case for reargument.

According to Lyle Denniston, writing today at SCOTUSblog.com, "some of the Justices [on February 28] questioned whether the Alien Tort Statute allowed U.S. courts to hear lawsuits for violations of international law on foreign soil. That is the issue lawyers are to address in new legal briefs due on a schedule that runs through June 29."

So it may hinge on a technicality.

Stay tuned, with fingers crossed for some accountability and justice.