ABSTRACT
The issue of jurisdiction is relevant for two reasons. First, spoliated assets are usually sent abroad, particularly to safe haven States, for safe keeping. Secondly, the majority of high-ranking officials, including heads of States, who have been implicated in such activities traditionally, flee to other States to escape prosecution from their domestic courts. The activities associated with indigenous spoliation take place outside the territory where suit is usually brought. Customary international law recognizes that one of the methods by which extra-territorial jurisdiction can be exercised is through the universality principle. The class action mechanism under the US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) Rule 23 was intended to reduce duplicate claims and provide access to the courts for plaintiffs who would be unable to bring their cases individually. Lujan creates specific problems in the environmental context because environmental injury is by nature a public injury rather than a personal injury.
