In this case, the defendants are fishermen whose ship grounded and polluted islands from a national park. Following their rescue, the fishermen were arrested and are charged for the damages caused by the oil spill pollution to the marine ecosystem of the national park.

The public prosecutor sued the fishermen for, among other offences, the pollution of a marine national park and for trespassing in a national park where navigation was forbidden. The judge of the court of appeal held that the facts showed that the defendants were guilty of the offences they were charged with.  He also required them to pay for the damages to the marine ecosystems of the isles and for their restorations. This was the first time that a Senegalese court acknowledged marine ecosystem environmental damages and asked for reparations.

(Contribution:  Mohamed DIEDHIOU, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar )