In the early days of the United States, the Congress adopted the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) to grant the federal district courts jurisdiction over cases against aliens for torts in violation of international law or a treaty of the United States, in the hope to help the newly founded U.S.A. to win respect of other nations, and to provide the aliens with remedy so as to avoid the potential threat to the national security and to develop international trade. In the 1960s, with the rise of civil rights movement, international civil disputes involving foreign states multiplied. Because of the efforts of human rights groups plus other factors, such as the specific rules favoring the plaintiffs in the legal system of the United States, the ATS was hotly discussed in academic and judicial circles. The scope of personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction under the ATS has been greatly expanded, and the federal courts of the United States are willing to enforce international law especially international peremptory norms. However, the federal courts tend to refuse to enforce most international human rights conventions or treaties in ATS cases on the ground of nonselfexecuting treaty doctrine.