We inform the public that the decision granting the company “DRVO-EXPORT” d.o.o. Teslić an environmental permit for coal ore exploitation at the “Bistrica” site near Prijedor has been annulled in court proceedings.
Based on lawsuits filed by the Center for Environment (the Center) and a group of Bistrica residents, a panel of judges from the District Court in Banja Luka determined that the environmental permit was issued contrary to the law.
Namely, after the concessionaire was exempted from preparing an Environmental Impact Study during the process of obtaining the environmental permit, the competent ministry proceeded based on an incomplete investor request—i.e., without a developed and publicly presented remediation and reclamation project. The court ruling can be found at this link.
The court also upheld the plaintiff’s argument that, due to the premature implementation of the project, the environmental permit could not properly define protection measures, because the “baseline state” had already been compromised.
“The annulment of the environmental permit should have an immediate and decisive impact on the viability of continuing the disputed concession. This is especially the case as we have repeatedly pointed out the dangers of legalizing the de facto situation on the ground—i.e., premature and mining activities for which no legal prerequisites existed. In addition, we certainly expect this decision to serve as crucial evidence in the civil lawsuit recently filed by the group of Bistrica residents against government authorities and the investor for violations of basic human rights,” said Redžib Skomorac, legal advisor at the Center.
In addition to contesting the disputed permit, the Center also provided legal representation for a total of thirty-two residents from Bistrica and nearby villages who, with the help of lawyers, also initiated an administrative dispute.
“The court confirmed our claims that work at the site began before a concession had been granted, and before reports used to justify the environmental permit were even obtained. For this reason, the true baseline state of the environment—what existed before the works began and what the environmental permit was meant to protect—was never established. Given these facts, and that the ruling affirms our lawsuit’s claims, it is unclear how a lawful environmental permit could ever be issued in this case, since such a permit is meant to protect the original state of the environment, not a state that has already been altered by the project,” said Dragana Stanković, a lawyer from Banja Luka who represented the group of residents.
Considering that this concessionaire currently lacks a valid document outlining all the necessary environmental protection measures required for the legal implementation of the concession, all activities at this site must be halted until the legal conditions for such activities are met. The final and enforceable court decision has been submitted to the competent state inspectors, along with a request for immediate suspension of all work.
“Although this is one of the more significant recent rulings, its importance is somewhat diminished by the fact that the court did not grant the residents’ request to suspend the permit until the final ruling, which could have significantly reduced the harm caused by the works. The plaintiffs are directly affected by the project—that is, their human rights and property. The court therefore had grounds to intervene earlier and order a halt to the works, especially since this was the only mechanism for preventing further harm, as inspection oversight had no impact on the pace of operations,” Skomorac added.
We advise the relevant ministries to act with particular caution in this and other cases where concessionaires are private entities. We draw special attention to the coal deposits “Bukova kosa” and “Medna,” as well as other planned mineral resource exploitation projects by private companies. Representatives of public institutions must focus far more effort on protecting human rights and the interests of local communities exposed to harmful projects.
Finally, we demand that the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology enable public consultations during the decision-making process for a new environmental permit, and allow the interested public access to the additional evidence that the concessionaire is obliged to prepare and submit.
The project is supported by a Core Grant from the regional project SMART Balkan – Civil Society for a Connected Western Balkans, implemented by the Center for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD) Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) North Macedonia, and the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) Albania, and financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.
