Inbrief

An appeals court in the US has upheld last year’s ruling that Shell cannot be liable for violations of international human rights law in Nigeria in the 1990s. However, the judges’ opinions were divided, so the case could go to the highest court in the US. The ruling confirmed the landmark decision – which appeared to clarify the Alien Tort law – in which judges decided Shell had no case to answer because the legislation cannot be used to hold multinationals liable for international law infringements abroad (EP12, issue 6, p1). New York judges declined to re-hear the case by a 5-5 vote, and international law practitioners have said the split may clear the way for the plaintiffs to appeal to the Supreme Court.