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Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell: will Brexit mean more jurisdiction skirmishes?
In Okpabi & others v Royal Dutch Shell plc & another [2021] UKSC 3, the Supreme Court held that the claimants had an arguable case that Royal Dutch Shell, the UK-incorporated holding company in the Shell group, owed a duty of care to people affected by the operations of a Nigerian subsidiary. The claims will now return to the High Court, which will decide whether in fact such a duty was owed and, if so, whether it was breached and caused the loss claimed. Some commentators have seen the decision as heralding a new wave of international tort claims in the English courts. However, changes brought about by Brexit, as well as the court’s earlier judgment in Lungowe v Vedanta, may complicate this analysis.
1 APR 2021
