Gabrielle Holly at Omnia Strategy LLP analyses the UK Supreme Court's landmark decision.

This morning, the Supreme Court delivered its much anticipated judgment in Vedanta Resources PLC and anor v Lungowe v and ors. In a unanimous decision, the court found that a claim brought by a group of Zambian villagers against UK-based Vedanta Resources Plc and its Zambian subsidiary, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), could proceed in the UK.

The duty of care

The claimants in Vedanta and other similar cases (Okpabi and ors v Royal Dutch Shell plc and anor and AAA and ors v Unilever and anor) have all relied on the case of Chandler v Cape Plc to argue that a UK parent company could owe a duty of care to those affected by acts of a foreign subsidiary.

Chandler set out a series of factors which established that the parent company in that case owed a duty of care to the employees of its subsidiary. However, though tried and tested, these factors have not been an easy fit for subsequent claims.

In a significant step, the Supreme Court in Vedanta confirmed that the Chandler factors are not the only path available to prospective claimants. It found that the relevant duty in parent company cases can be established by reference to basic tort principles rather than the “straitjacket derived from the Chandler case” (at [60])...