ABSTRACT
The Erika and Prestige incidents have been unparalleled by any oil spills in Europe, and they have stimulated change in the law relating to maritime safety and marine pollution. Some of the measures taken have raised issues of fundamental importance in relation both to criminal as well as civil liability regimes. In the criminal sphere debate has been dominated by the EU Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Ship-source Pollution. Granting permission for the action to proceed, the judge decided that a number of questions relating to the validity of the Directive should be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which may be expected to hear the matter year. In the international community it has long been agreed that the maritime industry should be governed by uniform international laws and regulations. The action taken by the coalition has been brought by responsible organisations for the constructive purpose of clarifying important issues of international law.
