The Hague Court Rules for Chevron in Ecuador Dispute
16 Septiembre 2020 - 05:50PM
Business Wire
The District Court of The Hague today ruled in favor of Chevron
Corporation in its dispute with the Republic of Ecuador, upholding
a 2018 arbitral award rendered by an international tribunal
administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
In its unanimous award, issued pursuant to the U.S.-Ecuador
Bilateral Investment Treaty, the international arbitral tribunal
found that a $9.5 billion Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron was
procured through egregious fraud and corruption by the plaintiffs’
legal team, including bribery of the presiding judge and
ghostwriting of the judgment. It held the judgment unenforceable
under international law. The tribunal also rejected the underlying
environmental allegations against Chevron. In its award, the
tribunal found that a Chevron subsidiary completed an environmental
remediation program supervised and approved by the Republic of
Ecuador and that the Republic released the environmental claims on
which the fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment was based. Any
responsibility for current environmental conditions in Ecuador lies
with the state-owned oil company, which continues to operate in the
same area today.
The District Court of The Hague upheld the award in full and
rejected the Republic of Ecuador’s attempt to set it aside, noting
that “the fraudulent character of the Lago Agrio judgement and the
proceedings preceding it is common ground between the parties.” The
court found that the international tribunal acted within its remit
when issuing the award, and that the award was well reasoned and
complied with the applicable law and public policy. The court
concluded that the international tribunal’s orders properly sought
to “remove the consequences of a fraudulent judgment that was
rendered by a corrupt judge.” The court held that “because none of
the setting aside grounds brought forward by Ecuador succeed, the
claims will be denied.”
The court’s ruling follows decisions from courts in Argentina,
Brazil, Canada, Gibraltar and the U.S. rejecting the fraudulent
Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron. In July, Argentina’s highest
court unanimously rejected the plaintiffs’ bid to enforce the
corrupt judgment, bringing to an end the last pending recognition
proceeding against Chevron. Even Ecuador finally admitted in a
public filing earlier this year that the $9.5 billion judgment
issued by its courts against Chevron is “fraudulent.” Chevron’s
arbitration against the Republic of Ecuador is now in its final
stage, where the company is seeking to recover from the Republic of
Ecuador costs it has incurred to expose and defend against the
fraud.
Chevron Corporation is one of the world’s leading integrated
energy companies. Through its subsidiaries that conduct business
worldwide, the company is involved in virtually every facet of the
energy industry. Chevron explores for, produces and transports
crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes
transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells
petrochemicals and additives; generates power; and develops and
deploys technologies that enhance business value in every aspect of
the company’s operations. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif.
More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.
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Sean Comey, +1-925-842-5509
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