Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya

Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: January 23, 2019 Judgment: February 28, 2020
Full case name	Nevsun Resources Ltd v Gize Yebeyo Araya, Kesete Tekle Fshazion and Mihretab Yemane Tekle
Citations	2020 SCC 5
Docket No.	37919 [1]
Prior history	Judgment for Araya et al in the British Columbia Court of Appeal, 2017 BCCA 401 Judgment for Araya et al in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, 2016 BCSC 1856
Ruling	Appeal dismissed
Holding
Act of state doctrine not recognized Customary international law may ground a private law cause of action
Court membership
Chief Justice	Richard Wagner
Puisne Justices	Rosalie Abella, Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Clément Gascon, Suzanne Côté, Russell Brown, Malcolm Rowe, Sheilah Martin
Reasons given
Majority	Abella J, joined by Wagner CJ and Karakatsanis, Gascon, and Martin JJ
Concur/dissent	Brown and Rowe JJ
Dissent	Côté J, joined by Moldaver J

Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, 2020 SCC 5 is a landmark^[2] case in which the Supreme Court of Canada held, in a 5–4 decision, that a private corporation may be liable under Canadian law for breaches of customary international law committed in other countries.^[3]

The case concerned human rights violations allegedly committed against workers at an Eritrean mine majority-owned by Nevsun Resources, a Canadian firm. The Supreme Court held that the alleged victims' case against Nevsun could proceed in the courts of British Columbia.^[4] It also established that the act of state doctrine is not recognized in Canadian law.^[5]