Ecuador lands a victory in Chevron's Hague challenge
Ecuador persuaded an arbitration tribunal in The Hague…that its settlement with Chevron did not necessarily preclude rainforest residents from suing over the same pollution that decades of oil drilling wrought in the rainforest…Chevron…[is suing] the Ecuadorean government…for alleged violations of a bilateral investment treaty…The first track of Chevron's claims attack[s] the…lawsuit under the settlement agreement, and the second contend[s] that a "denial of justice" took place in Ecuador. Thursday's decision…rejects key claims within the first track…The second track revisits the…New York case, where a federal judge ruled last year that the verdict against Chevron had been "procured by corrupt means." Chevron's spokesman…[said]..."The Ecuadorean judgment against Chevron has been found…to be the product of fraud, corruption and bribery…Today's interim decision by the tribunal does not change that fact. It merely defers the question of whether in issuing that judgment Ecuador also breached its contractual agreements with Texaco."...