Friday, March 11, 2011

Chevron Case in Ecuador; Judge Kaplan's Injunction Calls into question the "Due Process(or lack thereof) " in Ecuador.

So Judge Kaplan in U.S. District has done it again. He has granted Chevron's application for a preliminary injunction which effectively enjoins the plaintiff's from enforcing their multi-billion dollar judgment obtained in Ecuador. The judge went on to say his ruling is based upon a showing by Chevron , "that it is likely to win on it's claim that Ecuador does not provide impartial tribunals and due process. And there are at least serious questions going to to the merits of the claim that the judgment was procured by fraud."
Wow ! That's a mouthfull. Judge Kaplan has basically said, if we are asked , we will look at foreign tribunals to make a determination if "our American corporate 100 defendants " were screwed. Court's are extremely hesitant in reviewing the merits of judgments in " sister states"; Now, Judge Kaplan is venturing into very sensitive territory. So, if the injunction is upheld on appeal, will any large American company that is sued in another country be able to attack the underlying judgment at home?
Your comments.
By the way, the injunction is conditioned upon Chevron posting a bond(presumably multi-billion ) by March 15th. Let's wait and see.

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