Baltic and European news
Ship pollution law "not breaching global rules"
2432, 20/11/07
EU rules imposing criminal sanctions for "intentional, reckless or seriously negligent" pollution from ships occurring in EU waters are not incompatible with international law, an advisor at the European court of justice has concluded.
In an opinion delivered to the court on Tuesday advocate general Juliane Kokott argues that international law does not prevent the EU from imposing such sanctions. There is "no factor of such a kind as to bring into question the validity of the directive", she said.
EU judges have been asked to rule on the issue by a British court after a group of shipping industry trade associations launched a legal challenge to annul the 2005 directive on ship source pollution (EED 03/07/06 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/21292). The group includes international oil tanker association Intertanko, which represents 80 per cent of the world's fleet.
The group claims that the EU directive breaches liability rules established by the 1973 Marpol convention, which has higher legal status. It goes beyond the convention by imposing liability in cases of "serious negligence", in addition to cases of "intent" or "recklessness" already covered by Marpol. And it hampers shipping's "right of innocent passage", it says.
But advocate general Kokott rejects the group's claims. The wording "serious negligence" cannot be interpreted as going beyond international law standards, she says in the opinion.
Intertanko said it would not comment on the case until the full court had delivered its verdict, which is expected to happen within months. In most cases the court's ruling reflects the view of its advocate general.
Follow-up: European court of justice http://curia.europa.eu/, tel: +352 43031, plus opinion in case C-308/06 http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=rechercher&numaff=C-308/06.
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