Rights, compensation, and the market in Maltese case law

Abstract

Claims for compensation following infringement of human rights, accidental damage to property, loss of business arising from the abuse of copyright and patents, and loss of life through someone else's negligence are nowadays common in many countries. Even governments are demanding payment from unwilful transgressors for damage due to the natural wealth of the society they represent. A case in point is Egypt's recent claim from a British shipping line for damage to a coral reef in the Red Sea following the grounding of a passenger liner, the Cunard Royal Viking Sun. At the same time countries could be requested to pay other countries which suffer as a result of activity carried out in the process of business or research: Holland demanded payment from Swi~zerland for pollution of the River Rhine by Swiss chemical plants in 1986, and an Australian Royal Commission concluded in 1985 that Australia was entitled to charge Britain the costs of carrying out work on the decontamination of land affected by Britain's nuclear tests twenty years earlier. [excerpt]