|
|
 |
|
Feature Case Anne Rajotte |
The Second Circuit recently dismissed for forum nonconviens several factually linked class action suits brought by Ecuadorian and Peruvian indigenous people who alleged that Texaco Petroleum violated their human and environmental rights by polluting and failing to adequately remediate lands necessary for their survival. Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc., 303 F.3d 470 (2nd Cir. 2003). Setting precedent, the court also found that any judgment that might be entered against Texaco by an Ecuadorian court would be recognized and enforceable in the United States.
The court first found that Ecuador was an appropriate alternative forum and that public and private interest weighed in favor of dismal. The Second Circuit then found that under the principles of international comity, courts will ordinarily allow proceedings of foreign countries to have extraterritorial effect in the U.S. Therefore, since Ecuador was the proper forum, the court held that should a judgment be entered against Texaco in Ecuador, that judgment would have force in the U.S.
The importance of this case lies in the precedent it sets, that the extraterritorial effect of a judgment delivered in a foreign forum increases the likelihood of successful plaintiffs collecting damages from defendants.
