Plaintiffs invoke terrorism treaty, Alien Tort Statute

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted November 23, 2020 10:58 AM

The second-amended complaint two Lebanese citizens filed in New York under the Alien Tort Statute against officers of a Lebanese bank who allegedly laundered millions of dollars a year for Hezbollah — which reportedly used the money to finance terrorist attacks on civilians — relied on the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. A district judge ruled that the SAC stated a valid claim, because the convention qualifies as the kind of “universal, specific, and obligatory norm of …

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