Chronology of the Court Case

This "chronology of the court case and Shell's behaviour" is copied from climatelaw.org

• 21st July 2005: Mr Gbemre is given permission to bring his case.
• 5th August 2005: Hearing adjourned by court for service of papers.
• 15th August 2005: Shell asks for an adjournment, to study the papers and
  make adequate response. Adjournment granted.
• 6th September 2005: Parties (except Attorney General of Nigeria) attend
  court for hearing, but the court does not sit.
• 16th September 2005: Shell and NNPC inform the court they want to
  challenge its jurisdiction, and want this question to be determined first.
  Justice C. V. Nwokorie determines that he wishes to give one ruling only,
  covering all matters, and orders Mr Gbemre's arguments to be made. Mr
  Gbemre's case is argued before the court, after which Shell and NNPC start
  their reply. Shell and NNPC then ask for an adjournment, which is granted.
• 14th October 2005: Shell and NNPC inform the court that they want a stay
  of proceedings, while they appeal to the Court of Appeal against the
  judge's decision of 16th September. Case is adjourned.
• 24th October 2005: Shell and NNPC argue, again, that they want a stay of
  proceedings while their appeal is heard at the Court of Appeal. The judge,
  observing that this was the longest argument he had ever heard on
  an adjournment application, refused the adjournment and ordered Shell and
  NNPC to finish their reply to Mr Gbemre's case. The senior lawyer for
  Shell and NNPC (Chief T.J. Okpoko, SAN) then applied orally to resign from
  the case, which had the effect of requiring an adjournment.
• 8th November 2005: Mr Okpoko turns up again, says that his clients wish
  him to continue and explains that he did not formally file his resignation
  in writing, as required. He said that Shell and NNPC were concerned that
  they would not be given a fair hearing, wanted the case transferred to a
  different judge, and so had filed an application for an injunction to stop
  the judge hearing the case. The judge refused Shell and NNPC's application
  to have the case transferred, and ordered them to reply to Mr Gbemre's
  case. Mr Okpoko then asked for an adjournment on the basis that he was too
  tired to continue. Strong objections against further delay are made on
  behalf of Mr Gbemre by his lawyer (Mr. B.E.I. Nwofor, SAN). The court
  ordered that as Shell and NNPC will not reply, they can be given no
  further time, and the court ordered the case be adjourned to 14th November
  2005 for judgment.
• 14th November 2005: the Federal High Court of Nigeria:
  1. held that gas flaring is a "gross violation" of the
     constitutionally-guaranteed rights to life and dignity, which include the
     right to a "clean poison-free, pollution-free healthy environment";
  2. ordered Shell to stop flaring in the Iwerekhan community immediately;
  3. declared the gas flaring laws to be "unconstitutional, null and
     void"; and
  4. ordered the Attorney General to meet with the Federal Executive
     Council to set in motion the necessary processes for new gas flaring
     legislation that is consistent with the constitution.

  The judgment is here:
  http://www.climatelaw.org
  

• 16th December 2005: Flaring was still continuing 32 days after the
  judgment, and so contempt of court proceedings were filed against Shell
  and NNPC, for disobeying the order.
• 10th April 2006: The Federal High Court grants a "conditional stay of
  execution of this court's order stopping gas flaring in the Iwherekan
  community". Three conditions are attached:
  1. Shell and NNPC "are allowed a period of one year from today to achieve
     a quarterly phase-by-phase stoppage of its gas flaring activities in
     Nigeria under the supervision of this Honourable Court."
  2. The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, the Group Managing Director
     of the NNPC, the Nigerian Petroleum Minister, and the Company Secretary of
     NNPC are ordered to "submit a detailed phase-by-phase technical scheme of
     arrangement, scheduled in such a way as to achieve a total non-flaring
     scenario in all their on-shore flow stations by 30th April 2007".
  3. These four individuals are ordered to appear before the judge to
     present the same in open court on 31st May 2006.
     Shell and NNPC appealed the conditional stay of execution, and the
     conditions.
• 23rd May 2006: The Court of Appeal did not amend the order of 10th April
  2006 but ordered the court not to sit on the day appointed for the
  personal appearances, thereby removing in effect the third condition.
• 26th September 2006: the Court of Appeal in Benin City adjourned Shell and
  NNPC's jurisdiction appeal, after the case had been wrongly adjourned by
  court staff to 10th October 2006, without any notice to the applicant or
  his lawyers. The leading judge said that the reason for this would be
  investigated.
• 30th April 2007: Mr Gbemre's legal representative attends court to discover that no detailed  phase-out scheme had been submitted, that Justice Nwokorie had been removed from the case by having been transferred to another court district in the far-northern State of Katsina, that the court file was not available, and that no representatives of Shell, NNPC or the government had turned up.