2 July 2014
On 20 June 2014, the UK High Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling holding that Shell Nigeria could be held responsible under Nigerian law with regards to major oil spills which occurred in the region of Bodo in 2008 and 2009 and resulted in severe pollution in the Niger Delta. The case is been brought by more than 15000 Nigerian claimants. (more…)
Source: The Bodo Community and others v. The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited | [2014] EWHC 1973 (TCC) | 20 June 2014
Source: The Guardian | Shell faces payouts in Nigerian oil spill case
Source: Leigh Day | London High Court rules that Shell Nigeria could be legally liable for bunkering
19 April 2013
In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) unanimously dismissed claims brought by Nigerians against Royal Dutch Petroleum under the Alien Torts Statute (ATS).
The claimants, now residing in the United States (US), had alleged that the subsidiary company Shell Oil aided and abetted the Nigerian government in torturing and killing people who protested the company’s activities during the 1990s. The SCOTUS held that the presumption that the ATS has no extraterritorial reach was not rebutted in this case, as there was no sufficient nexus with the US.
Amongst the first reactions, it was noted that this decision will likely bar most of the corporate liability suits brought in the US for activities abroad.
Source: The Washington Post | Supreme Court limits civil lawsuits alleging atrocities committed abroad