Over the last decade, big US corporations have been sued under the 200-plus year Alien Torts Claims Act (ATCA).

The ATCA, passed in 1789, was one of the first laws passed by the new American republic. The aim was to ensure that violations of international law, the "law of nations", could be heard in US courts. Legal historians say the intention of the law was to show the world that pirates could not find a haven in the US and to protect American sailors from being seized by foreign press-gangs. Pirates and press-gangs left American waters and the act lay dormant. Then, in the 1980s, lawyers twigged to it as a way to seek damages for human rights abuses, including claims on behalf of injured citizens from other countries.

Cases filed under the ATCA in recent years include charges against Coca-Cola that the drinks company should be held responsible for paramilitary forces that terrorized and murdered trade unionists in Columbia, and against Exxon Mobil alleging that Indonesian army units assigned to protect the company's facilities in Aceh were provided logistical support while they committed genocide, torture and kidnapping.

And as Faith E. Gay and J. Noah Hagey point out in the New York Law Journal, the number of ATCA suits against corporate defendants continues to rise as plaintiffs continue to try to bring corporations to account for alleged human rights abuses by aiding and abetting violations abroad. Even if companies win their case, there is enormous damage in terms of reputation and costs.

There are four steps corporations should take to protect themselves from the ATCA, writes Jonathan Drimmer in the Legal Times.

1.Create a code of conduct to emphasize the company's commitment to promoting and protecting human rights.

2.Tailor contracts with third parties carefully to ensure they comply with the code of conduct, making prohibited practices a breach of the agreement and including a provision declaring the company's expectation that the third party will adhere to local civil and criminal codes.

3.Carefully monitor relationships with Government agencies.

4.Keep a watchful eye to ensure human rights abuses do not occur.