The French courts finally confirmed yesterday all criminal convictions handed down in 2010 in the trial for the sinking of the Malta-flagged oil tanker “Erika” in December 1999 that contaminated much of the Atlantic coast of France.

The Supreme Court also ordered the French oil company Total to “repair the consequences of injury along with the co-defendants” and to pay damages. The group will have to pay a fine of €375,000.

On December 12, 1999, the Erika, a 25-year old ship flying the Malta flag, chartered by the French group Total and belonging to an Italian owner, polluted 400 kilometers of coastline from Cape Finistère (Brittany) to the department of Charente Maritime (west), and, as a result, oil affected some 150,000 birds.

On March 30, 2010, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the convictions for pollution against the Total group, the Italian certification company RINA, the owner Giuseppe Savarese and manager Antonio Pollara.

The civil parties (State, local, environmental protection associations) wanted €200.6 million of damages.

The convicted four had appealed the sentence.

A few months ago, the attorney general of the Court of Cassation, Didier Boccon-Gibod, had sparked controversy by recommending the final cancellation of the procedure, claiming that the French courts had no jurisdiction.

The Court considered contrary to “several provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (...) justified the exercise by France of its jurisdiction to sanction an involuntary discharge of oil by a foreign ship that inflicts severe damage in its territorial sea and its coastline.”