Four Nigerian Farmers and Milieudefensie v. Shell

Nature of the Case

Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes

The Court declared this judgment provisionally enforceable. The damages derived from SPDC’s strict liability for the result of the leakage and failure to install an LDS will be assessed during separate follow-up proceedings or by settlement. As of September 2022, there is no update on the installation of the LDS. The judgment has been partly appealed by both parties to the Dutch Supreme Court. All procedures, including the appeals, are on hold during ongoing negotiations between the parties.

Significance of the Case

For the farmers and millions of others suffering from large-scale oil pollution in the Niger Delta, this decision represents a step towards justice. First filed over thirteen years ago, these cases reaffirm the rights that victims of environmental injustice have against transnational corporations exploiting land and resources without respect for human rights. In common law jurisdictions, victims of these actions have brought cases against corporations for breach of duty of care, but this is the first case to be decided on the merits. As such, this decision marks the first time that a court has held a Dutch parent corporation accountable for actions of its foreign subsidiary company against foreign claimants. As such, it puts other corporations on notice.

For their contributions, special thanks to ESCR-Net members: the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University.