Nigeria: UK court rules on Shell case

The High Court in London ruled on 26 January that two legal claims on behalf of over 40,000 Nigerians against Royal Dutch Shell and its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) for environmental damage caused by oil pollution in the Niger Delta could not be heard in the UK. Lawyers for the communities said they would appeal against the judgement. Mr Justice Fraser, sitting in the Technology & Construction Court, held that the claim against Royal Dutch Shell had no prospect of success and therefore that the claim against SPDC could not proceed.