The Guarantee Fund of Compulsory Damage Insurances (Fonds de garantie des assurances obligatoires de dommages - FGAO) intervenes in various fields such as hunting or road accidents in France, where the liable person is unknown or uninsured (Article L421-1 of the French Insurance Code). The Supreme Court recently ruled that the FGAO had jurisdiction over a claim brought by a woman who had been injured in a skiing accident involving a British skier. Considering that the FGAO's jurisdiction necessarily excludes the jurisdiction of the Compensation Commission for victims of crimes (Commission d’indemnisation des victimes d’infraction - CIVI), the Supreme Court quashed the Court of Appeal decision, which had confirmed the CIVI's jurisdiction for this matter.

Cour de Cassation, Civ. 2º, 16 June 2011