Decision ID: 001700

In February 2004 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in December 2003 the Commercial Court in Lorient had rendered a judgement in respect of a claim by a hotel situated in Carnac. It was noted that the 1992 Fund had compensated the claimants for losses suffered in 2000 but had rejected the claim for further losses in 2001, since the clean-up operations in the Carnac area had been completed in February 2000 and there was no indication that the incident had had any negative impact on tourism beyond November 2000. It was noted that the Court had stated that it was not bound by the Fund’s admissibility criteria and that under French law a claim was admissible if the loss was direct and certain, provided there was a sufficient link of causation between the event and the damage. The Committee noted that the Court had appointed an expert to assess whether the claimant had suffered a loss during that period and, if so, whether there was a direct link between the loss and the incident. The Executive Committee decided that, in view of the importance of the issue for the proper functioning of the compensation regime based on 1992 Conventions, the Fund should pursue an appeal against the judgement.