Positive Aspects of the ATS

Many of the same criticisms against the ATS can be seen as positives. The debate is largely based on two groups, the big business/multinational corporations who are afraid of being sued in a US court for an action that occurred in a different country against labor groups, ethnic minorities and other minority groups. The two interest while not diametrically opposed do have a great deal of tension.

A large corporation who is afraid of getting caught doing something illegal may go to extra lengths to hide it once it is done. A large corporation may be leery of investing in a foreign country if they are worried about the political practices in that country for fear of being found an aider of those atrocities. For example Coke may not want to invest in China because of human rights abuse, which the general public or under the ATS Coke may be found liable for China's human rights abuses because of the business generated by Coke in China.

At the other end of the spectrum are the individuals or groups who are abused or have their human rights violated. For example in Pena, Joelito was tortured and killed by a police officer who was acting, either explicitly or implicitly, under the orders of the state to put pressure on Dr. Filartiga. Other examples are numerous and include ethnic groups that are forced to move or are wiped out for oil fields, workers trying to unionize in numerous developing nations being abused by the multinationals.

The debate is largely about economics from the corporations view point, they cannot operate effectively if they have to worry about being sued in a US federal court for an action that may have occurred thousands of miles away. The individuals abused see it as David vs. Goliath and they need to have their day in court and make sure Goliath does not abuse others.

Corporations claim that it will infringe on their ability to operate, critics of this argument state that by being held accountable businesses will have to operate effectively and within their own laws or face public distress or dislike. In essence a corporation is no longer able to say we will abide by human rights and then do nothing to address human rights abuses. This is a powerful idea, as most multinationals can just pick up and leave a country when the political, social or economic atmosphere is no longer to their liking. The ATS will allow an alien abused by a company grounds for redress in a US court instead of a court in their home country which may or may not be in the hands of powerful elite who have strong ties to the multinational corporation.

This debate is not going anywhere and both sides have some strong valid points. Where one falls will largely depend on what you think is more important, paying a few cents more for a consumer good, or the knowledge that the individuals who made the consumer good were well treated and not abused by the corporation who employs them.