Spain on Monday won support from Europe’s leading court in its mutlimillion euros damages insurance claim versus The London Steam-Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association for an enormous oil spill on its northwestern shore twenty years back.
The 2002 sinking of the Greek oil vessel Prestige, which was cruising to Gibraltar, launched an approximated 63,000 tones of smelly black gas along the Galicia shore as well as required the closure of Spain’s wealthiest angling premises.
It caused a prolonged disagreement in between The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited, the insurance company of the vessel, as well as Spain.
The last took its situation to a Spanish court which ultimately got the insurance company to pay payment, topped at $1 billon, for the damages.
The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited consequently launched settlement procedures in London, which led to a judgment that Spain can just look for problems cases with settlement in London under English legislation.
Spain after that asked a UK court to apply the Spanish judgment as well as obtained its support in 2019. The insurance company appealed, motivating the UK High Court to look for support from the Luxembourg- based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The CJEU took Madrid’s side.
“The arbitration proceedings initiated in the United Kingdom cannot block the recognition of the Spanish judgment ordering the insurer to pay compensation for the damage caused by the oil spill,” courts stated.
“To accept that a judgment entered in the terms of an arbitration award by which an arbitral tribunal declared itself to have jurisdiction on the basis of such an arbitration clause may prevent the recognition of a judgment given in another Member State following a direct action for damages brought by the injured party would be liable to deprive that party of effective compensation for the damage suffered,” they stated.
The situation is C-700/ 20 London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association.
(Reuters – Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alison Williams)
