AMICUS CURIAE SUBMISSION

The submission by Alburnus Maior, ICDER, and Greenpeace Romania contends that Gabriel Resources Ltd. failed to conduct adequate due diligence on the feasibility of its Roșia Montană gold mine and ignored the rights of local communities. The authors argue the company violated the right to adequate housing through coercive land acquisition and failed to obtain necessary urban, archaeological, and environmental permits required by Romanian and EU law. They further claim the company attempted to bypass these legal requirements via a proposed 'special law' and used intimidation and misleading media campaigns to silence opposition. Legally, the submission asserts that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction because the dispute necessitates the interpretation of EU law, citing the Achmea precedent, and that the company's unlawful conduct disqualifies its activities as a protected investment under the Canada-Romania BIT.

• Gabriel Resources Ltd. failed to perform adequate due diligence on the feasibility of the project, specifically regarding the acquisition of surface rights and the resettlement of approximately 974 households across 1,663.89 hectares of land.
• The company is accused of violating the human rights of local residents by using pressure tactics to force land sales, including threatening expropriation and creating an atmosphere of insecurity.
• The submission details a campaign to silence critics, which included suing a journalist, attempting to block the website rosiamontana.org, and using 'verbal aggression' and 'physical violence' against opponents.
• The company failed to secure essential legal permits, as Romanian courts annulled various Urbanism Certificates (UCs), the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and Archaeological Discharge Certificates (ADCs) for the Carnic and Orlea areas.
• The project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process was flawed, characterized by a lack of public consultation during the scoping phase and the use of distorted data regarding community support.
• The company and the Romanian government attempted to enact a 'special law' to declare the project of 'special national public interest', which would have allowed the company to bypass archaeological discharge certificates and expropriate land within 30 days.
• The authors argue the ICSID tribunal lacks jurisdiction because the case requires the interpretation of EU law, specifically the Water Framework Directive and the EIA Directive, which they claim falls outside the tribunal's competence following the CJEU Achmea decision.

APA

ClientEarth (2018). AMICUS CURIAE SUBMISSION. https://www.clientearth.org/media/fnsf5tlg/amicus-curiae-submission-by-alburnus-major-centrul-independent-pentru-dezvoltarea-resurselor-de-mediu-and-greenpeace-romania-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. AMICUS CURIAE SUBMISSION. 2018. https://www.clientearth.org/media/fnsf5tlg/amicus-curiae-submission-by-alburnus-major-centrul-independent-pentru-dezvoltarea-resurselor-de-mediu-and-greenpeace-romania-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=AMICUS CURIAE SUBMISSION |date=2 November 2018 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/fnsf5tlg/amicus-curiae-submission-by-alburnus-major-centrul-independent-pentru-dezvoltarea-resurselor-de-mediu-and-greenpeace-romania-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2018amicus, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{AMICUS CURIAE SUBMISSION}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/fnsf5tlg/amicus-curiae-submission-by-alburnus-major-centrul-independent-pentru-dezvoltarea-resurselor-de-mediu-and-greenpeace-romania-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }