Decision ID: 001596

In October 2004 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in July 2004 the Spanish Government had submitted a request to the Court in Corcubión for the release to it of the £15.5 million deposited with the Court for the purpose of constituting the limitation fund, on the grounds that it was paying compensation to the victims of the spill. It was noted that the 1992 Fund and other parties in the legal proceedings had submitted pleadings opposing the request, in the case of the 1992 Fund arguing that, in accordance with the 1992 Civil Liability Convention, the limitation fund should be distributed by the Court between all claimants who were entitled to obtain compensation for pollution damage in proportion to their established claims, that the incident had also impacted France and Portugal and that victims of pollution damage in those countries were entitled to a proportion of the limitation fund. The Committee noted that in July 2004 the Court had rejected the Spanish Government’s request on procedural grounds, that the Spanish Government had appealed against the decision, but had subsequently withdrawn its appeal in October 2004 after it had weighed up all the circumstances of the matter.