How a Country Treats its Citizens No longer Exclusive Domestic Concern: A History of the Alien Tort Statute Litigations in the United States for Human Rights Violations Committed in Africa 1980-2008 [Paperback]

Harry Akoh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3639169417 | ISBN-13: 978-3639169416 | Publication Date: June 23, 2009

Over the last twenty-five years some aliens present within the United States have initiated action against other aliens for crimes transgressing the law of nations committed abroad. This trajectory is considered by some as progress in international law, since only a few decades earlier this body of law concerned itself exclusively with the relations among independent states. Therefore the ability to employ international instruments for the advancement of individual human rights is perhaps a cause celebre. But this growing practice has also generated a significant controversy and opposition. What is international law or the law of nations? Under what authority do United States Courts entertain disputes concerning a foreign sovereign?s treatment of its own citizens under its own laws? The Judiciary Act of 1789 which created the Alien Tort Statute, a relatively obscure piece of legislation is at the center of these actions. But what was the original intent of the Alien Tort Statute? Is this an elusive goal or is it possible to reconstruct the meaning of that statute?

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About the Author

Harry Asa'na Akoh graduated with a Ph.D. from Georgia State University. He studied at the University Cape Town Law School and later earned the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship. The author is interested in exploring the evolving historical relationship between international law and international human rights in various municipal jurisdictions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: VDM Verlag (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3639169417
• ISBN-13: 978-3639169416
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,563,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)