The UK’s highest court, the Supreme Court, has ruled that people in the Niger Delta region are too late to file pollution claims against energy company Shell, after a major oil spill occurred over a decade ago.
The five judges unanimously upheld previous rulings stating that the claims were not filed before the legal deadline. The claimants had argued that the oil spill constituted a “continuing nuisance”, to which the deadline would not apply, but the Supreme Court disagreed, stating that the spill was a “one-off event or an isolated escape”.
The ruling does not affect a separate legal case against Shell for other spillages. The London-listed energy company welcomed the judgement but acknowledged the spill was “regrettable”. Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest crude producer, has been struggling with oil spills for decades. Shell faces an ongoing legal case in the UK after a ruling in February 2021 that more than 50,000 people in the Niger Delta region can make pollution claims in English courts.
