The Court of Appeal of England and Wales refused to enforce a foreign judgment on the grounds that it was incompatible with arbitral awards rendered in London concerning the same case, on the basis that such enforcement would be contrary to public policy.<\/p>\n
The case related to the oil spill following the sinking of the MT Prestige<\/i> off the coast of Galicia on November 19, 2002.<\/p>\n
The ship belonged to Mare Shipping<\/i> Inc. (the \u201cOwner\u201d) and was managed by Universe Maritime Limited<\/i> (the \u201cManager\u201d). The London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited<\/i> (the \u201cClub\u201d) provided protection and indemnity insurance to the Owner and Manager of the ship, which included an arbitration clause (providing for a seat in London) and a \u201cpay to be paid<\/i>\u201d clause which stipulated that the Club would only compensate third-party victims if the Owner and the Manager had first paid the sums due as a result of their liability being incurred.<\/p>\n
Following the oil spill, multiple proceedings were initiated.<\/p>\n