The families of non-U.S. citizens killed in a 2012 plane crash in Nigeria will not be able to pursue their lawsuits against the estate of the pilot, who was from Florida, in American courts, a panel of federal judges ruled.

Instead, those families will have to seek justice from Nigerian courts, based on the ruling released Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The decision effectively scuttles 38 lawsuits combined on appeal.

Judge John Walker Jr. of the Second Circuit, sitting by designation, wrote for a panel that included Judge Stanley Marcus and Senior Judge Joel Dubina. The panel upheld Judge Robert Scola of the Southern District of Florida in dismissing the lawsuits based on forum non conveniens—a common law doctrine that provides district courts with “inherent power to decline to exercise jurisdiction” with the “central purpose” being “to ensure that the trial is convenient.”