Key Facts
- •Claimants, Colombian residents, sued Amerisur Resources Limited for environmental damages caused by a 2015 oil spill resulting from FARC terrorist activity.
- •Applicable law is Colombian, per Rome II.
- •Preliminary issues concerned the statute of limitations (two-year caducidad under Law 472 vs. ten-year prescripción under the Civil Code) and parent company liability.
- •The claim initially included general pollution claims alongside the oil spill claims, later discontinued.
- •Expert evidence on Colombian law was presented by both sides, with substantial agreement.
Legal Principles
Articles 2341 and 2356 of the Colombian Civil Code govern liability for damage caused by fault or negligence.
Colombian Civil Code
Article 47 of Law 472 sets a two-year limitation period (caducidad) for Colombian group actions.
Law 472 of 1998
Article 2536 of the Colombian Civil Code establishes a ten-year prescription period (prescripción) for ordinary actions.
Colombian Civil Code
Rome II Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 determines the applicable law for non-contractual obligations; Article 1(3) excludes evidence and procedure; Article 15(h) addresses prescription and limitation rules.
Rome II Regulation
Colombian law generally protects the separate legal personality of parent and subsidiary companies, with exceptions for fraud and insolvency.
Colombian Commercial Code Article 98, Law 222 of 1995, Superintendency of Companies Query No. 220-072648 of 11 May 2018
Outcomes
The claims are not time-barred under Article 47 of Law 472.
The court held that Article 47 is a limitation rule under Rome II, but the action is not a Colombian group action. The claimants did not choose to bring a group action; therefore, the ten-year prescripción period applies.
The legal principles precluding parent company liability for subsidiary actions do not bar the claimants' claims.
Liability depends on the specific facts. The court preferred Professor Santos’ evidence, concluding that liability is not precluded by the accepted legal principles, even if the parent company did not directly participate in the spill.