ELR Citation: ELR 20157
No(s). s. 02-56256, -56390 (9th Cir. Aug 7, 2006)

The court partially reverses the dismissal of an Alien Tort Claims Act action brought by residents of Papua New Guinea against a mining corporation claiming numerous violations of international law and racial discrimination. None of the residents' claims presents nonjusticiable political questions, and the alleged racial discrimination neither constitutes an official sovereign act nor warrants dismissal on international comity grounds. Nor do alleged violations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea constitute official sovereign acts immune from scrutiny by a U.S. court. Accordingly, the district court erred in dismissing these claims under the political question, act of state, and international comity doctrines.