PIP: the certifier sentenced on appeal to pay 3,000 euros per victim - Liberation
The court of Aix-en-Provence upheld Tuesday the conviction of the company TUV, certifying fraudulent PIP breast implants to be paid an allowance of 3,000 euros per victim, a "technical decision" which "acknowledges" TUV that "continuing to fight" on the bottom.
The court rejected the request for suspension of the provisional enforcement of payment to nearly 1,700 carriers decided on November 14 by the Commercial Court of Toulon, who had held the German company TUV and French fililale civilly liable in this case, considering that the leader of quality control had "breached its obligation to control and vigilance."
The certifier had doubly appealed this decision on the provisional execution of payment and on the bottom.
Six distributors - Bulgarian, Brazilian, Italian, Syrian, Mexican and Romanian - TÜV demanded 28 million euros. Nearly 1,700 women with these breast implants, mainly in South America but also French and English, asked they, 16,000 euros each, including under the moral and anxiety, about 25 million euros.
The hearing on the execution took place on December 20, one on the bottom "which is the heart of the matter and against which we continue to fight" has not been set at this stage, according to the lawyer TUV Cécile Derycke (WELL Derycke), told AFP.
"We take note of this technical decision, relating solely to the provisional execution," said she continued, explaining that if the appeal judgment on the merits should reverse the November 14, refunds are requested to victims. At the hearing on December 20, she stated however that it would be "very difficult to recover these amounts."
The Commercial Court of Toulon was sentenced to compensate TUV "harm importers and victims" and to provision 3,000 euros per victim, pending individual expertise for each.
Olivier Aumaître, lawyer six distributors, welcomed Tuesday of that judgment, "an excellent decision which confirms the logic of compensation." "This is a new failure and a new penalty for TUV" and "good news for victims worldwide who have confirmed that they can be compensated in France."
Under criminal law, the founder of PIP, Jean-Claude Mas, 74, insolvent and prosecuted for "aggravated deception" at the expense of the carrier and "fraud" at the expense of TUV who had brought civil action was sentenced Dec. 10 to four years in prison for selling fraudulent for years breast implants. He appealed.
It is precisely this situation of insolvency coupled with the obligation to "wait several months" before the appeal hearing which led the representative of 2,600 victims in criminal proceedings, Philippe Courtois, a train on Tuesday appealed to the Minister of Health Marysol Touraine, to request the creation of a compensation fund.
"You can not prejudge the decision of the Court of Appeal, but the insolvency managers will be compensated by the State through the compensation of victims of crime commissions. Why wait and delay the deadline for compensation? "He says.
