Private Litigation as a Foreign Relations Problem. (2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stephan, Paul B.
• Is Part Of: AJIL unbound. Volume 110( 2016)
• Page Start: 40
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2016
• Subjects: International law -- Periodicals; 341.05
• DOI: 10.1017/S2398772300002373
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2398-7723

Abstract

Abstract : In RJR Nabisco v. European Community, the Court added an exclamation point to a long term trend in its jurisprudence. It believes, this trend indicates, that private civil suits pose specific foreign relations issues, at least when the targets are foreign transactions and actors, to which the Court will respond by erecting barriers. To this general point the case adds an unsurprising, but still important codicil: These problems don't go away when foreign states take advantage of the U.S. civil litigation system by acting as plaintiffs.