Absent a settlement, a jury to be selected beginning Tuesday in lower Manhattan will be asked to reach a historic verdict that would make Royal Dutch/Shell the first foreign corporation found liable in a U.S. courtroom for aiding and abetting human rights violations by the forces of a foreign nation.
The families of seven Nigerians who were executed by the former military regime in Nigeria for protests against Shell’s oil exploration and development activities are attempting to become the first plaintiffs to win at trial in U.S. courts and hold a corporation responsible for assisting in the violation of norms of customary international law.
