This was an appeal in cassation against the decision of the Papeete Court of Appeal of 7 October 2004, which sentenced the appellant Nicolas X to three months of suspended imprisonment for involuntary injuries, and pronounced on civil interests. During a stage of the Tahiti-Nui va'a canoe race, Edwin Y was seriously injured by the propeller of one of the two motor boats which accompanied the competitors. The accident occurred at the time of the substitution of the rowers of a canoe by six new team members who had dived into the water from the accompanying boat. Nicolas X, the owner and master of this ship, who had received CFP 120,000 to ensure the transport of the competitors, was declared guilty of involuntary injuries. Edwin Y, the civil party, requested compensation for his injuries.

Nicolas X argued that the criminal courts had no jurisdiction in matters of maritime passenger transport. He invoked the Law of 18 June 1966, the Law of 3 January 1967, and the LLMC 1976, which provide for a system of limitation of liability.

Held: Partial cassation.

The Court of Appeal stated that the relevant provisions did not apply in this case, as the contract of carriage had ended when Edwin Y voluntarily left the ship. In so deciding, the Judges disregarded the meaning and the scope of the aforementioned provisions, which do not make the possibility of limitation of liability of the owner or the master of the vessel conditional on the existence of a contract of carriage.

From this it follows that the the abovementioned judgment of the Papeete Court of Appeal, dated 7 October 2004, is struck down and annulled only in respect of its civil provisions, all other provisions being expressly maintained. The case and the parties are referred to the Paris Court of Appeal for a rehearing, in accordance with the law, within the limits of the cassation thus pronounced.