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Flores v. Southern Peru Copper Corporation

País/Territorio
Estados Unidos de América
Tipo de la corte
Nacional - corte superior
Fecha
Ago 29, 2003
Fuente
UNEP, InforMEA
Nombre del tribunal
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Sede de la corte
New York City
Juez
Kearse; Jacobs; Cabranes
Número de referencia
343 F.3d 140 (2d Cir. 2003)
Idioma
Inglés
Materia
Medio ambiente gen.
Resumen

Southern Peru Copper Corporation (SPCC) was majority-owned by a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Peru. It operated copper mining, refining and smelting operations in the area of Ilo, Peru. Residents of Ilo brought personal injury claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act against the corporation.

The Peruvian government conducted regular assessments which found that SPCC’s activities were causing environmental harm affecting agriculture in Ilo. Next to being ordered to pay fines, SPCC was ordered to change its operations so as to comply with Peruvian environmental laws.

The plaintiffs alleged that the corporation’s activities caused lung diseases of Ilo residents due to the large amounts of sulphur dioxide and fine particles of heavy metals emitted into the air and water. They claimed that this pollution was a violation of customary international law seeing as it breached the right to life, the right to health and the right to sustainable development. The lower Court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim on the grounds that they did not find a customary international law violation under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The plaintiffs appealed and the Court of Appeals followed the lower Court’s decision by saying that the plaintiffs had failed to establish the claim of a customary international law violation. The right to health and life were held not to be sufficiently definite and unambiguous in order to be a rule of customary international law as required by the Alien Tort Claims Act.

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