* Split in federal courts could go to U.S. Supreme Court
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court refused to reconsider a lawsuit that accused Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) of helping Nigerian authorities violently suppress protests against oil exploration in the 1990s.
In a divided vote [5 to 5] that prompted a bitter debate among some of its judges, the court left intact what some legal experts call a landmark ruling in September that companies cannot be liable[under the ATS] in U.S. courts for violations of international human rights law.
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