A British court ruled this Friday that Spain could not carry out the punishment Spain to force insurance companies on damaged oil tankers”Prestige“To pay up 855 million euros due to the environmental disaster caused by the sinking of the ship in 2002.

Judge Christopher Butcher, of the commercial court of the High Court, upheld the appeal of the London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited against the implementation of the decision of the Provincial Court of La Coruña, which found the insurance company responsible for compensating the State for the toxic spill on the coast of Galicia in November 2002.

In his decisionjudge sees Spain’s sentence as “irreconcilable” with an arbitration ruling in England freeing the company from paying Spain. According to him, admitting that the decision of the Galician court “would be contrary” to the principle of “res judicata” (“res judicata”) in force in England. Ships flying the Bahamas flag, broke apart while carrying 70,000 tons of heavy fuel oilcaused damage on the northern coast of Spain and the western coast of France, which opened a long legal dispute between the insurance companies and Spain raised in two different proceedings in the two Member States.

Although Spain and France sued the company under article 117 of the Criminal Code, the insurer stood by the fact that its contract with the shipowner stipulated that any dispute would be resolved through arbitration in England. In 2013, the decision of the British lawyer Alistair Schaff exempt the company from paymentby enforcing a clause that exempts the insurance company from payment if the previous tanker owner has not paid.

This arbitration opened a long process that also reached the European Union Court, which in 2022 ruled in favor of Spain. However, a new ruling in England by retired judge Peter Gross re-established in March this year that such disputes should be governed by English law and thate Spain “violated its obligations” by seeking justice in another case.

In May this year, Judge Butcher held four hearings where the parties presented their arguments, before issuing his decision today, which can be appealed. The decision has a collateral effectIn the UK, several renewable energy company arbitrations are underway where Justice has authorized Spain to collect part of the compensation it must collect from insurance company Prestige.