Supreme Court Allows Ecuador Pollution Plaintiffs To Sue Chevron Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada has today allowed Ecuador pollution plaintiffs to try to seek enforcement against Chevron Canada of a multibillion-dollar damage award against Chevron Corporation for oil pollution in Ecuador: Chevron Corp. v. Yaiguaje.

According to the court, this is a relatively simple question of the mutual respect owed between states. Those who obtain a "legitimate" foreign judgment may ask Canadian courts to enforce it in Canada against a defendant who operates and has assets here, whether or not there was a "real and substantial" connection between the lawsuit and the Canadian defendant.

However, the court went out of its way to emphasize that it is not prejudging any of the merits of the claim, including: