The executive president of Indecopi, Julián Palacín, suggested to the Ministry of the Environment that requires the company’s insurance and reinsurance policy from the Energy and Mines sector, which must cover civil liability for the damage caused to the environment and to consumer citizens due to the Repsol oil spill in the Ventanilla Sea.
“Currently, with a Government that defends the sovereignty of Peru and the right to demand justice in the face of this damage, we propose, in defense of consumers, a legal roadmap through Indecopi, to set a legal and historical precedent regarding compensation. that corresponds to any environmental damage to the detriment of the Peruvian State”, he expressed.
According to Palacín, whoever causes damage to another must compensate him, for this reason it must be understood that environmental damage has a monetary quantification that translates into compensation for damages. “This is a legal principle of any democratic society.”.
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The head of the institution considered that, if possible, an expert appraisal of the damages should be made to initiate the extrajudicial conciliation process and then a possible judicial process against Repsol and jointly and severally against its insurance and reinsurance company in the international market, in application of article 1987 of the Civil Code.
The president of Indecopi explained that the code establishes the joint and several liability of international insurers and/or reinsurers, applying the doctrine of social distribution of damages, agreed in international insurance policies.
“We believe that this legal route should be followed in Peru, which will allow, in the future, greater security measures to be taken to avoid damage due to pollution, which harms consumers and the Peruvian State as a whole.”, he indicated.
For Palacín, all companies that carry out risky or dangerous activities within the national territory should be obliged to register their insurance and reinsurance policies with the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem), since the State has not adequately defended their compensation rights against to environmental pollution in oil, mining, gas activities, among others.
He also added that it is important to determine if there was ecological and environmental damage, assets specially protected by the Peruvian State and, if applicable, that civil liability be determined and the corresponding compensation calculated, after an expert opinion.
