Supreme Court of Canada Rejects Request to Revive Dismissed Suit
SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 4, 2019--
The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected a request to review a decision
of the Court of Appeal for Ontario that a $9.5 billion Ecuadorian
judgment against Chevron Corporation cannot be enforced against Chevron
Canada Limited, an indirect subsidiary. The Court of Appeal for
Ontario’s decision, which is now final, dismissed all claims against
Chevron Canada Limited, holding that it is a separate entity from
Chevron Corporation and that its shares and assets cannot be seized by
those seeking to enforce the corrupt Ecuadorian judgment. The Ecuadorian
judgment itself has already been found by U.S. courts and an
international tribunal in The Hague to have been obtained through fraud,
bribery and corruption.
"We are pleased that the highest court in Canada has put an end to the
plaintiffs’ lawyers’ attempts to enforce their corrupt Ecuadorian
judgment against Chevron’s indirect subsidiary in Canada,” said R.
Hewitt Pate, vice president and general counsel, Chevron Corporation.
“Canadian courts have rejected the plaintiffs’ efforts to circumvent the
determination by U.S. courts that the Ecuadorian judgment against
Chevron was procured through bribery, fraud and other racketeering
activity. Any further efforts by the plaintiffs’ lawyers to continue
this lawsuit in Canada would be an abuse of the country’s legal system
and a waste of its judicial resources.”
Because Chevron Corporation has never had any assets in Ecuador, the
plaintiffs, led by adjudicated racketeer and suspended lawyer Steven
Donziger, are attempting to enforce the Ecuadorian judgment in other
jurisdictions. Donziger and his associates had sought to enforce the
judgment against both Chevron Corporation, which has no assets in
Canada, and Chevron Canada Limited, which was not a party to the
Ecuadorian lawsuit. Today's decision confirms once and for all that the
fraudsters cannot pursue Chevron Canada Limited's shares and assets.
Last September, an international tribunal administered by the Permanent
Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued an award in favor of Chevron
and its indirect subsidiary, Texaco Petroleum Company, finding that the
Republic of Ecuador violated its obligations under international
treaties, investment agreements and international law. The tribunal —in
a unanimous ruling by a panel including an arbitrator chosen by the
Republic of Ecuador— held that a $9.5 billion judgment rendered against
Chevron in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, in 2011 was procured through fraud,
bribery and corruption and was based on claims that had been already
settled and released by the Republic of Ecuador years earlier. The
tribunal concluded that the fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment “violates
international public policy” and “should not be recognised or enforced
by the courts of other States.” As a matter of international law, this
award confirms Chevron is not obliged to comply with the Ecuadorian
judgment.
In 2011, the plaintiffs obtained a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron
in an Ecuadorian court, but in 2014, a U.S. federal court found that the
Ecuadorian judgment was the product of fraud and racketeering activity,
including extortion, money laundering, wire fraud, witness tampering,
judicial bribery, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations and
obstruction of justice. The court prohibited enforcement of the
Ecuadorian judgment in the United States. That decision is now final
after having been unanimously affirmed by a U.S. court of appeals and
denied review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2018, Donziger was suspended from practicing law in New York State
and Washington, DC as a result of his unlawful conduct in procuring the
Ecuadorian judgment.
The plaintiffs’ other attempts to enforce the judgment in jurisdictions
around the globe have also failed:
-
In November 2017, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice unanimously
rejected an attempt to enforce the Ecuadorian judgment in Brazil.
Brazil’s Deputy Prosecutor General stated the judgment was “issued in
an irregular manner, especially under deplorable acts of corruption.”
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This followed a ruling by a court in Argentina in October 2017, which
also denied recognition of the Ecuadorian judgment. An Argentine
appeals court upheld this decision in July 2018, citing a lack of
jurisdiction.
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In December 2015, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar issued a judgment
against Amazonia Recovery Ltd., a Gibraltar-based company set up by
the plaintiffs’ attorneys and investors to receive and distribute
funds resulting from the Ecuadorian judgment, awarding Chevron$28
million in damages. The Court also issued a permanent injunction
against Amazonia prohibiting the company from assisting or supporting
the case against Chevron in any way. The court issued a similar ruling
in May 2018 against directors of Amazonia, Frente de Defensa de la
Amazonia, and Ecuadorian attorney Pablo Fajardo for their role in
attempting to enforce the ruling, this time awarding $38 million in
damages to Chevron.
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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Source: Chevron Corporation
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