Country reports

The Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal in this case brought by 202,600 Brazilian claimants seeking compensation for damage caused by the collapse of the Fundão Dam. The owners of the dam, BHP, had applied to strike out the claims on the basis they were an abuse of process. The first instance Judge struck out the claims on the basis that the claims were "irredeemably unmanageable" in England, mainly because of the risk of irreconcilable judgments and cross-contamination arising from parallel proceedings in Brazil. The Court of Appeal overturned this decision, finding that the fact that a claim might be 'unmanageable' did not make it an abuse, and in any event, the finding that the proceedings were irredeemably unmanageable was not sustainable. No such conclusion could be reached safely at such an early stage in proceedings. The claimants had provided the court with clear illustrations of case management options. The issues could be carefully managed by the respective law firms cooperating over case management. Furthermore, the degree of overlap with the Brazilian proceedings was "relatively limited". The Court of Appeal therefore allowed the claims to go to trial in England. The Supreme Court has refused BHP's application for leave to appeal, meaning the claims will proceed to trial on the merits.