Editor’s
note: Shamistha Selvaratnam is a LLM Candidate of
the Advanced Masters of European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden
University in the Netherlands. Prior to commencing the LLM, she worked as a
business and human rights solicitor in Australia where she specialised in
promoting business respect for human rights through engagement with policy, law
and practice.
Introduction
This report compiles all relevant news,
events and materials on Doing Business Right based on the coverage provided on
our twitter feed @DoinBizRight and on various websites. You are invited to
contribute to this compilation via the comments section below, feel free to add
links to important cases, documents and articles we may have overlooked.
The
Headlines
Chevron
Corporation and Texaco Petroleum Company v The Republic of Ecuador
On 30 August 2018 an international tribunal
administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued an award
in favour of Chevron Corporation and Texaco Petroleum Company, holding that the
Republic of Ecuador had violated its obligations under international treaties,
investment agreements and international law. The tribunal found that a $9.5
billion judgment handed down by Ecuador’s Supreme Court in the Lago Agrio case was
procured through fraud, bribery and corruption. It also found that the Republic
of Ecuador had already released the claims that formed the basis of the
judgment years before. The tribunal concluded that the fraudulent Ecuadorian
judgment is “not final, enforceable, or conclusive under Ecuadorian and
international law” and therefore cannot be enforced within or outside of
Ecuador and that it “violates international public policy and natural justice”.
Draft
Optional Protocol to Business and Human Rights Treaty
On 4 September 2018 the Permanent Mission
of Ecuador to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva presented
the ‘Draft
Optional Protocol To The Legally Binding Instrument To Regulate, In International
Human Rights Law, The Activities Of Transnational Corporations And Other
Business Enterprises’ (Optional Protocol). The Optional Protocol focuses on
ensuring State Parties to the Optional Protocol establish mechanisms that
provide access to remedy for victims of human rights violations in the context
of business activities of a transnational character. It also provides
individuals and group with the ability to make communications to the Committee
of experts.
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