Papua New Guinea: AusNCP releases initial assessment, accepts complaint against Newcrest Mining & Harmony Gold
"Initial Assessment: Complaint submitted by Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights Inc and Jubilee Australia Research Centre on behalf of affected Morobe Province communities against Newcrest Mining Ltd and Harmony Gold (Australia) Ltd", 1 August 2023
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I have considered the six admissibility criteria of the OECD Guidelines initial assessment process, engaged with the parties via written correspondence over the past 6 months, and decided to accept the complaint so that the AusNCP may offer 'good offices' to the parties. Good offices entail proposing consensual and non-adversarial means such as conciliation or mediation, to assist the parties in discussing the issues and arriving at outcomes that are mutually acceptable and comply with the OECD Guidelines. The scope of a good offices process may be negotiated further between the parties. Following the good offices process, and depending on its outcome, the complaint may then be subject to further examination by an Independent Examiner and a final statement reached in accordance with the AusNCP complaints procedures.
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