Case Notes
Abstract
On the 14th of November, 2002, a Liberian flag oil tanker called “Prestige” spilled thousands of oil along the coastline in the North of Spain. Therefore clean-up operations were carried out at sea and on shore in Spain and in France and also undertaken at sea off Portugal. As a consequence, a criminal action was taken before the Criminal Court of Corcubión (Galice/Spain), immediately followed by others, among them by the Spanish Government on its own behalf and on behalf of regional and local authorities as well as on behalf of 971 other claimants. Waiting for the courts to decide upon the liability for the damages caused, this article focuses on the main issues arising out of the case.