Brief of International Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Defendants in Chevron versus Donziger

Abstract

Between 1964 and 1990, Texaco dumped about 16 billion gallons of toxic substances into the surface water of the Amazon, relied upon by indigenous Amazon and remote farmers. Texaco also created hundreds of unlined pits in the jungle floor and filled them with toxic sludge. In 1993, the Amazon indigenous communities and remote farmers sued Texaco in the United States, its home jurisdiction, seeking redress for damages caused by Texaco’s operations. From 1993 to 2002 Texaco and later Chevron, when it acquired Texaco, fought to have the case dismissed and moved to Ecuador as the more appropriate forum to try the case. Ultimately, the U.S. action was dismissed in exchange for promises by Chevron to accept jurisdiction in Ecuador and satisfy any judgment rendered by an Ecuadorian court. The case was re-filed and tried in Ecuador. On February 14, 2011 the Provincial Court of Sucumbios awarded the Ecuadorian plaintiffs $8.6 billion in damages, with $5.6 billion going toward environmental remediation. Anticipating the worst, Chevron took preemptive action back in the United States. With the judgment not final and no attempt by the Ecuadorian plaintiffs to enforce in the U.S., Chevron filed a complaint against the Ecuadorians seeking declaratory relief for non-recognition of the Ecuadorian judgment and a preliminary injunction enjoining the Ecuadorians from seeking to have the Ecuadorian judgment recognized or enforced anywhere in the world. On March 7, 2011, the U.S. Federal District Court in the Southern District of New York granted the preliminary injunction in this Opinion. The Ecuadorian's have appealed and this amicus brief was filed on June 9, 2001 in support of the Ecuadorians. The brief seeks to show that the District Court erred in granting the injunction and that international legal obligations of the United States requires that the injunction be dissolved and the case dismissed.