Court rejects Nigerian claims against Shell

Lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerians will appeal an English High Court judgment handed down, which ruled that two polluted communities in the Niger Delta cannot seek redress against the oil giant Shell in the English courts, according to lawyers at Leigh Day. The judge concluded that Royal Dutch Shell (the parent company) has no legal responsibility for the systematic pollution of the Nigerian communities by its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. Mr Justice Fraser held that the claim against the London-based parent company, Royal Dutch Shell, had no prospect of success and, therefore, that the claim against Shell Nigeria could not proceed.