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In a written ruling, the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that corporations are not liable in US courts for violations of international human rights law.

“Looking to international law, we find a jurisprudence, first set forth in Nuremberg and repeated by every international tribunal of which we are aware, that offences [for] violations of human rights can be charged against states and against individual men and women but not against juridical persons such as corporations,” circuit judge José Cabranes said in his ruling.

The case was brought by the families of seven Nigerians executed by the former Nigeria government. They alleged that Shell provided transportation to Nigerian forces, allowed its property to be used as a staging ground for attacks, and provided food and compensation for soldiers who carried out the attacks. They said this aided the government to torture and kill locals protesting oil exploration in the Ogani region of Nigeria.

Shell has denied the accusations.

The dissenting circuit judge Pierre Leval wrote: “The majority opinion deals a substantial blow to international law and its undertaking to protect fundamental human rights. According to the rule my colleagues have created, one who earns profits by commercial exploitation of abuse of fundamental human rights can successfully shield those profits from victims’ claims for compensation simply by taking the precaution of conducting the heinous operation in the corporate form.”