The channelling of the liability in the Atomic Energy Law from the viewpoint of the insurance law

The paper breaks down into three sections. The first section covers the liability provisions under the Atomic Law as against those under the Paris and Brussels Conventions. The second section deals with the insurance aspect and the compulsory government indemnification scheme. In the third section the procedural problems arising from the use of the reservation on article 6 of the Paris Convention are treated and the advantages and disadvantages of an unconditional adoption of the Paris Convention are weighed. An overall survey of the legal consequences resulting from such adoption of the Paris Convention, with or without reservations, shows that the material results of the two alternatives are the same. The basic approach has been fixed already because, if use is made of the reservation, any liability of a third party causing of damage depends on full coverage. The debate about legal channelling thus is reduced to problems without any legal significance. One practical advantage of an unconditional adoption of the Paris Convention would be in the field of claims enforcement. The Convention streamlines the procedure by limiting third party liability to one person and by admitting claims for recourse only in cases of dolus directus. (HP/RF)