Okpabi and others (Appellants) v Royal Dutch Shell Plc and another (Respondents) [2021] UKSC 3, 12 February 2021.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the English courts have jurisdiction to hear a claim by over 40,000 Nigerian individuals against a UK-domiciled parent company and its Nigerian subsidiary in relation to adverse environmental and human rights impacts allegedly caused by the subsidiary. This much-anticipated judgment follows the Supreme Court’s landmark 2019 decision in Lungowe v Vedanta Resources plc., which confirmed the legal test that a claimant must satisfy in order to establish a duty of care owed to them by a parent company in relation to the activities of its subsidiary. This new decision also provides an insight into the factors and circumstances which may give rise to such a duty of care and liability for a breach thereof.