The
hope of millions of devastated Niger Deltans who wants Shell to pay
compensation for destroying their habitat has been dashed.
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell cannot be sued in London courts over
Nigerian oil spill allegations, the High Court ruled on Thursday,
dealing a setback to attempts to hold multinationals liable at home for
subsidiaries' activities.
If the High Court had ruled in favor of the two groups, other
claimants against British-based multinationals could have been
emboldened to pursue legal action through the British courts, some legal
experts had said.
Villagers from the Bille and Ogale communities in Nigeria's
oil-rich Delta region were trying to pursue oil spill allegations
against the company's Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development
Company of Nigeria (SPDC) in British courts.
The court ruled that the suit did not establish that Shell, the parent company, had legal responsibility for SPDC's actions.
"The claimants have failed to demonstrate that the first
threshold requirement – is there a 'real issue' between the claimant and
the anchor defendants – is met," the ruling stated.
Leigh Day, a law firm representing the villagers, said it would appeal the ruling.
Igo Weli, SPDC's general manager for external relations, said the
firm hoped "the strong message sent by the English court today ensures
that any future claims by Nigerian communities concerning operations
conducted in Nigeria will be heard in the proper local courts".
The Nigerian villagers argued domestic courts were unfit to hear
their case, while Shell said the matter was a uniquely Nigerian issue
and should be heard there.
Shell also denies responsibility for the spills, which it says were due to sabotage and illegal refining.
"It is our view that the judgment failed to consider critical
evidence which shows the decisive direction and control Royal Dutch
Shell exercises over its Nigerian subsidiary," said Dan Leader,
partner at Leigh Day who also represented Nigeria's Bodo community in
another oil spill claim against Shell that ended in a $55 million
settlement in 2015.
Last year, the High Court ruled that a case brought by Zambian
villagers against miner Vedanta Resources over environmental pollution
could be heard in England.
-Reuters
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