Following an accident on a pleasure boat, the Pti’Jules, Association Navi Club RATP, Mr X and their insurers Société GMF La Sauvegarde applied to the Lorient Commercial Court for the benefit of their right to limit their liability. The Court granted the authorization to constitute a fund under the LLMC 76, arts L5121-1 of the Transportation Code and L173-24 of the Insurance Code. The constitution of the fund prevented the action of the creditors against the insurers.

The injured party raised the issue of the constitutionality of the above articles with this preliminary question: do they infringe upon the equal rights principle of a victim of injuries sustained during pleasure navigation, according to arts 1 and 6 of the 1789 French Bill of Rights (Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen) and upon the liability principle of its art 4.

The Cour de Cassation refused to grant the constitutionality review and held that:

• this issue had already been raised in front of the Constitutional Court and is therefore not a new issue;
• the equal rights principle does not conflict with the possibility for the legislator to set up different rules for different situations, nor to differ from equality for reasons of public interest, as long as the difference of treatment is consistent with the purpose of the relevant law;
• maritime navigation, even for pleasure, submitting people to the risks and perils of the sea, can be distinguished from other activities and the legislator created specific rules for the beneficiaries of maritime claims for personal injury and death, rules which are consistent with the law of 3 January 1967 and L5121-1 of the Transportation Code;
• the liability principle is not offended when there is no disproportionate infringement of victims' rights;
• the public interest of development of nautical activities is not disproportionately affected by the rights of maritime claims creditors by limiting their indemnity as long as they are entitled to full indemnity when it is proven that the injury resulted from wilful misconduct.