Of the eight cases one was ruled in favour of, and four were accepted, but will need further testing before the court rules. The remainder have been dismissed. The Ruling comes a week before the anniversary of the first bomb test in the Pacific in the sixties, and at the same time the parliament in France debates compensation legislation.
Presenter: Pacific Correspondent Campbell Cooney
Speaker: Roland Oldham, Association Muraroa E Tatou; Nic Maclellan, Swinburne University
Of the eight cases appealing for compensation in the court in French Polynesia, five were brought by the families of former workers who had died, alledgedly from illnesses related to the radiation they'd been exposed to during the tests.
But Roland Oldham, the President of Association Muroroa E Tatou, which represents former test site workers says Ethe court has only ruled on one case, finding in favour of the three older children of one former worker.
Of the remaining 7 cases, three have been dismissed from the court. Two of those are surviving test site workers.
The other four have been admitted by the court, and the people represented in those cases, will have to undergo further, court approved testing, to find out if the illnesses they claim to be suffering from, or which led to the death of their spouse, or parent, can be linked to the testing.
Nic Maclellan is a Researcher and Journalist focussing on Pacific issues, and is the co author of "After Muroroa, France in the South Pacific".
He says from reading the judgment it's clear those whose cases have been disallowed, were unable to prove they worked on the tests. The ruling by the French Polynesia Labour Court comes in the same week the French Parliament in Paris is debating the Nuclear Compenstion bill.
And that debate is happening just a week ahead of the anniversary of the first nuclear test in the Pacific, conducted in the 60s.
While French Polynesia's court has dismissed half of the compensation cases before it, Nic Maclellan believs when that legislation becomes law, those seeking compensation in French Polynesia might find it easier.
While it hasn't given up hope Association Muroroa E Tatou's disappointed with what it says it says is a lack of support for thae cause from the territory's government. In the past two and a half year's it's changed at least four times, and Association President Roland Oldham says the country's politicians have shown more interest in ensuring their success, than looking after their constituents.
