The outcome of the Bodo preliminary issues trial has just been announced in London. A senior English judge ruled that the interpretation of Nigerian law by SPDC is correct in all the crucial points argued before the court. Mr Justice Akenhead accepted that the Nigerian Oil Pipelines Act provides a comprehensive and complete regime for compensation for oil spills. This decision limits the scope of the litigation to an assessment of actual damages sustained as a result of the operational spills. The Judge dismissed the attempts of the community’s UK legal representatives to add a range of additional claims over and above the compensation due under the clear Nigerian statutory regime.