France, June 22 -- After 20 years of legal proceedings, the court confirmed the dismissal of the case, effectively closing the door to any future criminal investigations.

Christophe Leguevaques, a lawyer representing the civil parties called the ruling a "dark day for justice".

Chlordecone, also known as Kepone, was used on banana plantations to combat weevils in the two French Caribbean islands from 1972 to 1993. France banned the pesticide on the mainland in 1990 but continued to allow its use in Guadeloupe and Martinique for three more years, despite warnings about its dangers.

More than 90 percent of adults in the two islands have been contaminated by chlordecone, according to France's National Agency for Food, Environmental and Oc...