Courts & Litigation
Just Security’s expert authors offer analysis and informational resources on key litigation impacting national security, rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Our content spans domestic and international litigation, from cases at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and other international and regional tribunals, to those in U.S. courts involving executive branch actions, transnational litigation, and more.
2,932 Articles

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: In Oral Arguments, Justices Weigh Liability for Chocolate Companies
U.S. corporations, including Nestle and Cargill, may face massive liability under the Alien Tort Statute for aiding and abetting slavery abroad. But does the ATS support such liability?…

A Commander’s Duty to Punish War Crimes: Past U.S. Recognition
A comprehensive, sweeping analysis of "the United States’ own long-standing views that a commander’s failure to punish war crimes by his subordinates may itself amount to war…

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: The Economic Folly of Human Trafficking for American Business
The threat of liability under the Alien Tort Statute (such as the Nestlé/Cargill suit) costs businesses money – that's just cold economic reality. Or is it? Amici in the case,…

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: A Canadian Perspective – Takeaways from Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya.
As the U.S. Supreme Court wrestles with corporate immunity for human rights abuses abroad, they may find a parallel Canadian case – in which the Supreme Court of Canada opened…

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: Rethinking the Alien Tort Statute
Tuesday's Supreme Court argument tackled thorny questions of extraterritoriality, customary international law, and corporate liability. But were any of these questions necessary?…

Part III: What Kinds of Situations and Cases Should the ICC Pursue? The Independent Expert Review of the ICC and the Question of Aperture
The third and final part of this series examines two additional factors that have widened the ICC's aperture, cautions that narrowing the Court's aperture may not always be desirable,…

Libya: Subnational Governance as a Potential Anchor of Stability
As the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum proceeds, a government structure that genuinely responds to legitimate grievances will be key to sustainable peace.

Part II: What Kinds of Situations and Cases Should the ICC Pursue? The Independent Expert Review of the ICC and the Question of Aperture
What does it mean in practice for the ICC to be a court of last resort? How should the Office of the Prosecutor assess whether there have been genuine national efforts at accountability,…

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: Toward a Harmonized Test for Complicity of Corporate Officials?
[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the consolidated cases of Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I and Cargill Inc. v. Doe I, which was argued before…

Defending Human Rights Is Not Terrorism: The Egypt Arrests as a Case in Point
The UN's global counterterrorism system creates a permissive and enabling environment that sustains and facilitates abuse of rights defenders,

Part I: What Kinds of Situations and Cases Should the ICC Pursue? The Independent Expert Review of the ICC and the Question of Aperture
This is the first of a three-part series regarding the ICC’s Independent Expert Review, the crossroads at which the ICC finds itself, and issues that lie ahead for the Court

Nestlé & Cargill v. Doe Series: No Safe Harbor for Enablers of Child Slavery – Secondary Liability and the ATS
[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the consolidated cases of Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I and Cargill Inc. v. Doe I, which was argued before…