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Article
From Kiobel Back to Structural Reform: The Hidden Legacy of Holocaust Restitution Litigation
2 Stan. J. Complex Litig. 139
  • Leora Bilsky
  • Rodger D. Citron, Touro Law Center
  • Natalie R. Davidson
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Abstract

This paper offers a new approach to the issue of transnational corporate liability for human rights violations and more generally an inquiry into the place of domestic legal experiences in theorizing about transnational law. Grounded in a study of the Holocaust restitution litigation of the 1990s, we explain corporate liability as a type of bureaucratic liability and explore in depth the relationship between the Holocaust litigation and the theory of structural reform litigation developed in the U.S. to address the bureaucratic structure of rights violations. We read the restitution litigation in light of pluralist reformulations of structural reform, in which norms are not enunciated in a hierarchical manner by the judge but are produced contextually through dialogue between court and parties. We use this analysis to challenge contemporary theoretical treatments of transnational corporate responsibility for human rights violations and suggest more promising directions for theorization.

Citation Information
2 Stan. J. Complex Litig. 139 (2014)