Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

England and Wales Court of Appeal rejects all-or-nothing ‘global claim’ approach in Niger Delta oil spill group claim against Shell, easing causation burden for 13,000 villagers

Published on: 17 October 2024

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

A trio of judges has overturned a High Court finding that compensation proceedings brought for 13,000 villagers against Shell Plc must be run as a so‑called ‘all or nothing’ (or global) action. Justices David Bean, Stephen Males and Jeremy Stuart‑Smith signalled their conclusion on 11 October 2024 at the end of a four‑day hearing. A detailed written judgment will follow in due course. Counsel for the claimants contended that the lower court’s approach compelled farmers and fishers from the Bille and Ogale communities in the Niger delta to connect Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary with every episode of entrenched pollution in the region, failing which their cases would collapse. Leigh Day, acting for the two communities, told the court this stance would, in practice, render it near impossible for people to bring environmental proceedings following repeated pollution incidents in the years ahead and in the area, unless they could demonstrate that the same polluter was accountable for all environmental harm that has impacted them...

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