Supreme Court rules that Nigerians can sue Shell over oil spills
The Supreme Court has today ruled that a group of 42,500 Nigerians farmers and fishermen can sue oil giant Shell for numerous oil spills in the Niger Delta.
Judges found that claimants could sue the firm for the activities of its Nigeria-based subsidiary.
The local Ogale and Bille people alleged their lives and health have suffered because repeated oil spills have contaminated their land and waterways.
They also argued that there has been no adequate cleaning or remediation.
Represented by law firm Leigh Day, they argued that Shell owed them a duty of care because it either had significant control of, and was responsible for, its subsidiary SPDC.
Shell owns 30 per cent of the firm, which it runs as a joint venture with the Nigerian state oil company, France’s Total, and Italian firm Eni.
Shell countered that the court had no jurisdiction to try the claims.
“[This ruling] also represents a watershed moment in the accountability of multinational companies”, said Daniel Leader, partner at Leigh Day.
“Increasingly impoverished communities are seeking to hold powerful corporate actors to account and this judgment will significantly increase their ability to do so”.
A Shell spokesperson said: “This is a disappointing decision. The spills at issue happened in communities that are heavily impacted by oil theft, illegal oil refining, and the sabotage of pipelines.
“Regardless of the cause of a spill, SPDC cleans up and remediates. It also works hard to prevent these sabotage spills, by using technology, increasing surveillance and by promoting alternative livelihoods for those who might damage pipes and equipment.
“Unfortunately, such criminal acts remain the main sources of pollution across the Niger Delta today.”
It is the second time in a matter of weeks that a court has found against Shell, after a Dutch court ruled that it must pay damages to four Nigerian farmers for oil spills back in 2008.
Rick Munro, commercial disputes partner at law firm BDB Pitmans, said: “The ruling is likely to cause concern within the boardrooms of UK based multi-nationals who, like Shell, operate through distinct local legal entities and management.
“Before this ruling they will have worked on the assumption that the UK parent is not liable for the acts and omissions of overseas subsidiaries where it does not exercise control over local management.”
The Anglo-Dutch giant’s onshore operations in Nigeria have been subject to sabotage for years.
Yesterday at a strategy conference chief executive Ben van Beurden said that Shell was considering pulling out of its onshore activities in the country.