"Rosia Montana voices to be heard in illegal Romanian gold mine litigation", 5 Nov 2018

On Friday, November 2, 2018, public interest law organizations filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Roşia Montană community affected by an illegal gold mine project in Romania to include their perspectives in arbitration proceedings at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), housed at the World Bank.

In the amicus brief, the legal team presents new facts and perspectives regarding the human rights violations suffered by community members who opposed plans to build Europe’s largest open pit gold mine...

Having failed to build the mine, the company [Gabriel Resources] is now attempting to sue the state of Romania for $4 billion, using the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) found in Romania’s investment agreements with Canada and the United Kingdom...

Both the State and the company have submitted their arguments to the ICSID Tribunal, however both exclude the perspective and experience of local communities. The amicus brief explains how the company has not complied with EU or Romanian law and therefore should not be protected through international investment law...