RESPONSIBILITY FOR HYDROCARBON POLLUTION
| Article L218-1 |
| Any owner of a ship carrying a cargo of oil in bulk is liable for pollution damage resulting from a leak or discharge of oil from this ship under the conditions and limits determined by the international convention of 27 November 1992 on the civil liability for oil pollution damage. For the purposes of this subsection, the terms or expressions “owner”, “ship”, “event”, “pollution damage” and “oil” have the meanings given to them in Article 1. of the convention mentioned in the previous paragraph. |
| Article L218-2 |
| Subject to the provisions of the international convention mentioned in article L. 218-1 relating to ships owned by the State, the owner of a ship registered in a French port and carrying more than 2,000 tonnes of hydrocarbons in bulk as cargo cannot allow this vessel to operate unless it justifies, under the conditions determined in Article VII of this agreement, an insurance or a financial guarantee up to the amount, by event, of the amount of its responsibility. |
| Article L218-3 |
| Regardless of its place of registration, no ship carrying more than 2,000 tonnes of bulk oil as cargo may have access to, or leave French ports or terminal facilities located in French territorial or internal waters. , if it is not provided with a certificate establishing that the civil liability of its owner for pollution damage is covered by insurance or a financial guarantee under the conditions provided for in paragraph I of article VII of the mentioned convention in Article L. 218-1. If the ship is the property of a State, it must be provided with |
| Article L218-4 |
| The provisions of Article L. 218-3 are not applicable to warships and other vessels belonging to or operated by a State and assigned exclusively to a non-commercial State service. |
| Article L218-5 |
| Independently of the officers and agents of the judicial police, are empowered to investigate and record violations of the provisions of this sub-section: 1 ° The administrators of maritime affairs; 2 ° The officers of the technical and administrative body of maritime affairs; 3 ° Inspectors of maritime affairs; 4 ° Expert technicians from the maritime navigation safety service; 5 ° Port officers and deputy port officers; 6 ° The agents of the navigation police and the surveillance of maritime fisheries; 7 ° The engineers of the bridges and roads and the engineers of the public works of the State assigned to the maritime services as well as the agents of the aforesaid services commissioned for this purpose; 8 ° Customs officers; 9 ° Abroad, with regard to ships registered in a French port, French consuls to the exclusion of consular agents. |
| Article L218-6 |
| The reports drawn up in accordance with article L. 218-5 are authentic until proven otherwise. They are immediately forwarded to the public prosecutor by the enforcement officer, who at the same time sends a copy to the departments concerned. |
| Article L218-7 |
| Breaches of the provisions of this sub-section are judged either by the competent court of the place of the infringement, or by that of the residence of the author of the infringement. Is also competent either the court in which the ship is registered if it is French, or that in the jurisdiction of which the ship can be found if it is foreign. In the absence of another court, the Paris tribunal de grande instance is competent. |
| Article L218-8 |
| (Ordinance n ° 2000-916 of September 19, 2000 art. 3 Official Journal of September 22, 2000 in force on January 1, 2002)
The following are punished with a fine of 75,000 euros: |
| Article L218-9 |
| A decree in the Council of State determines, as necessary, the conditions of application of this sub-section. |
