Decisión nº: 000003

In October 1986 the 1971 Fund Executive Committee decided that the claim by the Italian Government for £8.7 million, later reduced to £2.2 million, for environmental damage should be rejected in accordance with Resolution No 3. The Committee noted that the Civil (First instance) Court of Messina had also rejected the claim. The Government had maintained that the damage was a violation of the right of sovereignty over the territorial sea of the State of Italy. The Court stated that this right was not one of ownership and could not be violated by acts committed by private subjects. The Court referred to Resolution No 3 declaring that the State had not suffered any loss of profit or costs as a result of the alleged damage. The Italian Government appealed against the judgement.