Rise and Fall of Universal Civil Jurisdiction

Abstract

Universal jurisdiction today is largely understood only in the criminal context. To the extent that its civil version is separately recognized, it is argued that it suffered the same misfortune as the Alien Tort Statute in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum in 2013. The article examines why universal civil jurisdiction declined relative to its criminal counterpart, juxtaposing its decline with the late twentieth century rise of international criminal mechanisms to enforce global accountability. In carving out a separate history for universal civil jurisdiction, which has all been subsumed in existing international criminal histories, the article highlights the distinctive and complementary role that international civil liability can play in enforcing international human rights.