The following excerpt is from Saleh v. Bush, 848 F.3d 880 (9th Cir. 2017):
"We review the dismissal [for lack of subject matter jurisdiction] and the denial of the challenge to certification de novo.... We review the decision whether to conduct an evidentiary hearing for abuse of discretion." McLachlan v. Bell , 261 F.3d 908, 910 (9th Cir. 2001) (footnote omitted).
The Alien Tort Statute grants "district courts ... original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States." 28 U.S.C. 1350. Not every violation of the law of nations gives rise to a claim that can be brought under the ATS. Rather, "any claim based on the present-day law of nations [must] rest on a norm of international character accepted by the civilized world and defined with a specificity comparable to the features of the 18thcentury paradigms" that the drafters of the ATS had in mind"violation of safe conducts, infringement of the rights of ambassadors, and piracy." Sosa v. AlvarezMachain , 542 U.S. 692, 72425, 124 S.Ct. 2739, 159 L.Ed.2d 718 (2004). The set of "ATS torts"violations of norms of international law giving rise to claims cognizable under
[848 F.3d 887]
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