Decision ID: 001146

In October 2000 the 1971 Fund Administrative Council noted that in May 2000 the Criminal Court of Cabimas had held the master of the vessel liable for the damage arising from the incident, that the master had appealed against the judgement before the Criminal Court of Appeal in Maracaibo and that the Fund had presented pleadings to the Court of Appeal arguing that the evidence presented had not been sufficiently considered by the Court and that the incident was principally caused by the negligence of the Instituto Nacional de Canalizaciones. The Council noted that, in view of a decision by the Supreme Court on a request for “avocamiento” by certain claimants that the Criminal Court in Cabimas should abstain from taking any action on the case, the Court of Appeal had decided in September 2000 not to consider the appeal and had ordered the Criminal Court in Cabimas to send the file to the Supreme Court. The Council took the view that the Court of Appeal’s decision appeared to imply that the judgement of the Criminal Court of Cabimas was null and void.