Abstract
On 14 February 2018 the Court of Appeal confirmed in Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell that English courts could not exercise jurisdiction over the matter of whether the parent company, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), owed a duty of care towards the people of the
Ogale Community affected by the contamination of waterways by oil spills, as a result of deep-water oil exploration in the Niger Delta by its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC).
This case note considers how Okpabi establishes a curtailment of the precedent set in Lungowe v Vedanta for ensuring accountability of home corporations in English courts.
Okpabi provides further evidence of the ineffectiveness of tort law to ensure that English domiciled parent companies take measures to prevent against harm to the health, safety, and environment of communities affected by the extraterritorial operations of their
subsidiaries.
Ogale Community affected by the contamination of waterways by oil spills, as a result of deep-water oil exploration in the Niger Delta by its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC).
This case note considers how Okpabi establishes a curtailment of the precedent set in Lungowe v Vedanta for ensuring accountability of home corporations in English courts.
Okpabi provides further evidence of the ineffectiveness of tort law to ensure that English domiciled parent companies take measures to prevent against harm to the health, safety, and environment of communities affected by the extraterritorial operations of their
subsidiaries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 157-162 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Mar 2019 |