by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
My granddad had a great expression when something was remarkable or astonishing: “Well, that just beats the Dutch!” It was a linguistic heirloom of the 17th century when England and the Netherlands were commercial and naval rivals. Something had to be extreme to surpass even the Dutch, so that eventually became a common saying even on the American frontier.
It crossed my mind this week when a North Dakota judge ordered Greenpeace to pay the substantial damages awarded by a jury for the group’s organization and funding of protests at the Dakota Access pipeline. The pipeline owners, Energy Transfer Partners, sued and the jury found Greenpeace guilty of conspiracy, trespass, nuisance and tortious interference. The latter refers to a standoff that lasted months, with protesters chaining themselves to equipment, destroying pipeline parts, and throwing feces and burning logs at workers. The chaos delayed the project and cost pipeline owners an estimated $7.5 billion. The jury originally awarded damages totaling $666.9 million, which the judge eventually reduced by half.
Greenpeace lawyers said, “We will be requesting a new trial and, failing that, will appeal the judgment to the Supreme Court of North Dakota,” but they certainly aren’t banking on that. Instead, the group appealed the verdict — not to any court in North Dakota, but to a Dutch court. Greenpeace International filed suit in the District Court of Amsterdam, asking it to overrule the American court. I am not making this up.
In ordinary appeals, a higher court is asked to review a lower court’s ruling. But here, Greenpeace is asking a Dutch court to review an American case under a European Union “directive” written to protect protesters against lawsuits. It is the first time anyone has tried to apply it outside Europe, though, and obviously Dutch courts have no authority in America. Greenpeace USA’s parent organization, Greenpeace International (which was also found liable in the case), is headquartered in the Netherlands, but of course it is not accused of any crime there.
