On 19 November 2002, the tanker Prestige broke up and sank, producing an oil spill on the coasts of Spain and France. Following criminal proceedings, the Tribunal Supremo/Supreme Court (SC), on cassation, convicted the master for an aggravated crime of damage to natural areas and declared the civil liability to be assessed and quantified according to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992 (CLC 1992), and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 1992 (Fund Convention 1992), both instruments adopted by Spain. The master and Mare Shipping Inc (the shipowner) were declared to have unlimited liability. The London Steamship Owners Mutual Insurance Association (the P&I Club) was declared liable up to the amount of the P&I policy of USD 1 billion, and the IOPC Fund up to the limit set in the Fund Convention. The case was remanded to the lower Court to determine the quantum of compensation: see The Prestige (CMI1141).

The Audiencia Provincial de Coruña/Coruña Court of Appeal (CA) decided the quantification of the claim for compensation filed by the Spanish and French States and the affected municipalities, local governments, fisheries, and other natural persons. The shipowner and the master requested a reduction of the amounts claimed, alleging that the Spanish State also contributed, at least slightly, to the consequences of the spill. The P&I Club requested a deduction of the amounts that had been paid to the Spanish State by the European Union and the IOPC Fund. The IOPC Fund also objected to most of the amounts claimed.

Held: The CA dismissed most of the objections and ordered the defendants to pay. The CA stated that, according to the United Nation Convention of Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), the CLC 1992 and the Fund Convention 1992, the compensation for damage to the environment, apart from the loss of profits, is limited to the cost of reasonable measures of restitution taken or to be taken. In cases where more than one person is liable, the liability shall be joint. On the challenges of the shipowner and the master, the CA said that the argument was not incompatible with the absolution of the then general director of the Spanish Merchant Marine, but not acceptable at this point, because the proceeding was at the stage of execution. Furthermore, the Court stated that the State acted diligently with a reasonable response within the urgency of the risk and the dimension of the then-known aspects of the spill and its consequences. On the insurer's challenge, the CA acknowledged that the Spanish State received monetary assistance from the European Union and advance payment from the IOPC Fund and deducted this from the claimed amount. In any case, the total amount of the claims against the insurer, its total liability could not exceed USD 1 billion. The fund constituted by the P&I club for the liability of the shipowner under the CLC 1992 was ordered to be distributed proportionally among the claimants.

Regarding the IOPC Fund, the CA ordered it to pay but clarified that it was up to the limit expressly established in the Fund Convention 1992. This is established in relation with the maximum fixed in the CLC 1992 at the time of the event and shall not exceed 135 million statutory drawing rights (SDRs). This limit was raised to 200 million SDRs, as the event involved three parties of the Convention, in respect of which the combined relevant amount of hydrocarbons subject to the contribution received by persons in their territory, during the preceding calendar year, has been equal or superior to 600 million tons (art 4.4.c of the Fund Convention 1992). It is a strict, objective and fixed liability, set for an apportioned distribution among all the victims (art 4.5 of the Fund Convention 1992). It must be fixed according to the rules that legally govern it. The defendants were ordered to pay material damages and environmental and moral damages as well. The parties recurred this decision in cassation: see The Prestige (CMI1143).