Presentation by law professor at the University of Paris, Phillipe Delebecque of the legal implications of the case Erika. "Erika" was an oil tanker that sunk in December 1999 near the coast of Bretaña. In January 2007 the Paris Correctional Court condemned the company that owned the ship, the owner, the manager of the tanker and the italian society responsible for condition certifications of the ship to pay a compensation of 192 million euros to the victims of the spill. The same sentence absolves the captain, and the officers of rescue service who were accused of negligence. The judgment is historic because it establishs the concept of "ecological damage" in France for the first time. As prelude presents the maritime law monographic compilation directed by José Luis García-Pita y Lastres "Studies of maritime law."