Enablers of Delay in the Determination of Oil Pollution Compensation Claims against Shell in Nigeria and Recommendations

The Nigerian law permits those affected by oil spill from the facilities of the multinational oil corporations, including Shell to seek compensation in a court of law. Furthermore, section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution requires the determination of civil and criminal cases within a reasonable time. However, oil pollution compensation cases against Shell which is one of the multinational oil corporations operating in Nigeria are always determined after a decade and in some cases after over three decades. As a consequence, the aims of the research are to discuss some of the features that enabled delay in the determination of oil pollution compensation cases against Shell in Nigeria and to make recommendations on how they can be addressed. One of the reasons for the research is the lack of any detailed study on the features that enable delay in the determination of a case and recommendations on how such factors can be addressed. Furthermore, delay in the determination of the compensation cases has had tremendous impacts on those affected by oil spills from the facilities of Shell. Also, those victims of oil pollution who resorted to courts in more developed countries, most especially the United States of America and England have had their cases thrown out due to certain procedural factors. The researcher analysed various materials, including verbatim record of court proceedings, reported decisions of court, civil procedure rule, journal articles and internet materials. As a consequence, it was found that low judicial sanction, inadequate judicial funding and judicial unwillingness to enforce the civil procedure rule enabled delay in the determination of oil pollution compensation cases against Shell in Nigeria. Furthermore, the researcher also recommended adequate rule on judicial sanction, thorough judicial recruitment procedure, adequate sanction for non-compliance with the civil procedure rule and enhanced court fees based. Finally, the thesis contributes to knowledge as it discusses some features that enable delay in the determination of a case that had been neglected in the relevant literature.