Two options for Ecuador to impugn arbitral award
Ecuadornews:
The interpretation and nullity are the two remedies that the Ecuadorian State will use in its attempt to annul the arbitration ruling of the Court of The Hague issued on August 30, and for which Ecuador would pay an unquantified compensation to Chevron.
The strategy was revealed yesterday by the State Attorney General, Íñigo Salvador, before the National Assembly’s Oversight Committee where he explained the incidence of the ruling against Ecuador.
Salvador added that they will present a request for interpretation of certain passages of the arbitration award for the court to clarify, which can be done in 90 days.
Once that term expired, he said, the Tribunal has 45 days to resolve; then, the action that remains to the State is the action of nullity of the award that must be on issues related to the lack of competence of the court to have dictated it.
The prosecutor revealed that he has already arranged for the state’s lawyers to begin the study of the two actions.
To make those requests there are 90 days, Salvador reiterated; the interpretation will have to be resolved in 45 days and the nullity before the Dutch courts may take up to four years. At the end of that nullity process, he added, it will be known if the award is applied or not.
However, he clarified that the nullity action does not have suspensive effect; that is to say that in spite of Ecuador’s present arbitration will continue in its last phase, which is to quantify the compensation.
He said that it is not known how long this process can take, but it will not be less than two years. Only at that moment will Ecuador have the obligation to pay the compensation, if the nullity is not declared.
Pablo Fajardo, attorney for those affected by Chevron, stressed that the announcement of the Attorney General’s Office to opt for nullity and interpretation of the ruling is the path that must be followed.
He also commented that if the nullity does not prosper, the company will have to make the homologation of the award in the country that wants to execute it, where Ecuador can still litigate.
The chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, María José Carrión, said that it is striking that the ruling says that there was no transparency in Ecuadorian justice, and that this must be investigated.
With the appearance of the prosecutor opens the door for new calls to officials on the use of resources in promotional campaigns through the Ministry of Communication; to the lawyers who took the case and the ex-attorney Diego García.
Compensation
Four years, according to the State Prosecutor, Íñigo Salvador, could delay the process to determine the amount of compensation that Ecuador would have to pay to the Chevron company, in case the appeals for review and nullity of the arbitral tribunal’s decision The Hague that they present, they do not take effect. (I)