Meeting of magistrates in Marseille about illicit discharges in the Mediterranean Sea – Mar 15, 2010

The World Bank organizes a meeting of magistrates to deal with ships’ illicit discharges in the Mediterranean Sea in Marseille the 15 and 16 March 2010.

This meeting is a follow-up of a previous one organized by the World Bank in co-operation with the French Ministry of Justice and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Marseille in June 2009 (more information). It was recognized that illicit discharges from ships was a common phenomenon in the area and that there was a need for co-operation between the Coastal States in order to ensure that their legal system could address in en efficient way this type of offence. This second meeting is expected to discuss with the concerned countries the outline of a regional project to improve the enforcement of laws dealing with MARPOL violations. REMPEC is participating in these meetings as the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention have identified these actions as specific objectives or the regional Strategy for the Prevention of and Response to Pollution from Ships.