hRb7u

. Taking Advantage of a Weakened and Increasingly Corrupt
Ecuadorian Judiciary
87. The RICO Defendants have been able to influence the proceedings because the
independence and integrity of the Ecuadorian judiciary has eroded to where it is now greatly
susceptible to these tactics, and to pressure from outside and through the executive branch.
Indeed, the Ecuadorian presidency now wields de facto control and near-autocratic power over
all Ecuadorian institutions.
88. Various sources confirm the political branches' domination over Ecuador's
judiciary in recent years and the judiciary'S system-wide corruption. For example, the World
Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators for 2009, compiled from 21 independent sources,
ranked Ecuador below the 10th percentile of all countries surveyed with respect to the "rule of
law"-down from the 31 st percentile in 2003. Ecuador's negative score is -1.28, which places it
below North Korea (-1.25).
89. The U.S. Department of State's annual Human Rights Report published in
March 2010 also noted that "there continued to be serious problems" in Ecuador with respect to
"corruption and denial of due process within the judicial system" and that the judiciary was
"susceptible to outside pressure and corruption." Similarly, as recently as July 15, 2010, the UN
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions described Ecuador's judicial system as "almost
universally condemned for its inefficiency and mismanagement."
90. Among the means by which President Correa has established his control over the
judiciary is a policy whereby he has caused the issuance of a memorandum instructing all of his
ministers that should any Ecuadorian court enjoin their ministry, and if the ministry is able to
overturn the injunction on appeal, the ministry is to immediately sue the judge who entered the
injunction personally for damages.
91. There are numerous examples of this corruption and undue influence on display
in the Lago Agrio Litigation. While he was presiding over the trial, Judge Nunez publicly stated
that the Lago Agrio Litigation had "taken too long" immediately after a two-hour luncheon with
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