This week has been exciting for me, because I have been involved in discussions of several possible cases that CHRD may bring, in addition to the student cases. Although by next week I hope to be able to finally start doing daily blog posts, for this week, I will simply provide a diary of events for the week.
Monday June 13 I was a little worn out from the weekend, and had also hoped to get together with Dan to share in some tourist activities on his last day in town. Since I had not heard from him, I went to the office around 11:30 in the morning, and had a brief discussion with Chimge, regarding various matters and the events of the weekend (Chimge did not go to the conference).
I suggested that we advertise the student law clinic by means of a press release, in addition to the advertising that had been done. Chimge asked me to draft the press release, which I did.
In the afternoon, a lawyer with another environmental NGO came to talk to us about a prospective case, involving mining in the South Gobi desert. Apparently, a large Chinese company, possibly affiliated with the Chinese government, has formed a Mongolian subsidiary to mine for precious metals. The mine has created serious environmental problems, particularly with respect to "Strictly Protected Areas," excess use of water, arsenic tailings, and failure to construct a proper road for transportation. There are also economic issues regarding the company's liability for the government's expenditure of monies for exploration. The local community would like to see the mine shut down. This is an interesting case; we discussed what types of expert assistance we might need, and scheduled a meeting, which we will have on Friday morning, June 17.
Tuesday June 14. The office did not have power for most of the day. Chimge and I devoted the day to meeting with the students, in small groups, to discuss the cases that they were researching.
1. One group was researching a case involving the question of whether the grant of a mining license in a sacred area impacted freedom of religion. I believe this is a hard case, because the destruction of a sacred area does not necessarily impact the ability to practice religion. I provided some examples of cases that might be suitable for research, but think this case probably will not be able to go anywhere.
2. Another group had been researching the question of whether uranium mining was being illegally conducted and had determined that no such mining was actually occurring, and that the license had not actually been issued. Nevertheless, the group had attempted to obtain information and had been denied, because the government is claiming that information pertaining to uranium mining is not publicly available. The group is going to continue to research the possibility of litigating the denial to governmental information.
3. A member of that group stated that she was aware of another uranium mine, where there may be serious public health impacts. She is going to research the issue further.
4. The student who was researching the question of whether the coal mine should be considered part of the strategic reserve reported that he had found documents indicating the gross domestic product of Mongolia, and it appears that the revenue from the coal mine will be more than 5% of that amount, thus entitling the government to a share of the mining proceeds. He is going to research procedural issues pertaining to this case, since it appears that this could be a very important case for the country as a whole.
5. Another student reported on a case involving another mining license, again in area that might be deemed sacred. He is going to research other issues, including the possibility of revoking the permit because the company has failed to actually spend the money required under the minerals law to conduct explorations.
Wednesday, June 15. Today was dedicated to a meeting of the full student clinic. I presented a program on client counseling. In particular, I wanted the students to focus on what you want to achieve and can achieve in the initial consultation, and addressed the issue of difficult clients. I then divided the students into two groups, with one group playing clients, and one group playing lawyers. One case involved an electrician who would been fired and wanted the lawyer to help him get redress, another involved a man who wanted to bring a lawsuit against his new landlord after the landlord canceled his lease, and one involved a loan agreement. The students did an excellent job of playing the role of difficult client, and I think all of the students appreciated the difficulties that attorneys face in counseling and advising such clients.
The student who is responsible for the hydropower case, where a hydroelectric facility has caused serious environmental damages, had to leave the meeting to meet with a representative of the community opposing the power plant. After the student meeting, I met with this representative, with Chimge translating. I was able to explain to him that the project was only built so that the government could qualify for pollution reduction credits under the Kyoto accords: he had heard that the project had some relationship to Kyoto, but did not understand the relationship until I explained to him. I assured him that we would look at the issue there and see what we can do, but I have to admit that I am not optimistic.
A large Mongolian law firm has expressed interest in doing one pro bono case for CHRD. I have cautioned CHRD that there are limits to what we can expect from pro bono representation from large law firms that typically represent commercial interests; nevertheless, it is encouraging that they are willing to handle a case for us. They would like to do a case involving "air pollution in Ulan Baatar". This is a wide topic, it could include issues pertaining to the city’s antiquated and polluting coal power plants, issues pertaining to the lack of any pollution control on vehicles, or issues pertaining to the biggest issue, the unrestricted burning of whatever can be burned for heat by the hundreds of thousands of ger residents during the winter. We met with two representatives of the firm, and they did not know what type of air pollution issue they wanted to work on. Chimge and the lawyers from the firm worked on the details of the retainer agreement for about an hour.
Thursday June 16 A relatively slow day. Chimge was out in the morning because her seven-month-old son has a fever. Our meeting with the NGO regarding the South Gobi mine had been put off until Friday. Thursday afternoon, we met with another lawyer, who has achieved a significant legal victory, and may want to work with CHRD in following up.
Apparently, it is a common practice in Mongolia for political officials to remove heads of administrative agencies, who hold the equivalent of civil service positions. This lawyer has won a case, on behalf of the head of the standards and measurements agency, ordering his reinstatement after he was removed by order of the Deputy Prime Minister. The decision was upheld by the intermediate level appellate court and by the Supreme Court of Mongolia. There are now two questions: 1) how to implement the decision, because the government is still refusing to reinstate the fired employee, and 2) whether the employee can assert a claim for damages, including nonmaterial and psychological damages for his removal.
I think these are both important questions. However, I think it would be a major victory for the rule of law in Mongolia to win the enforcement of a Supreme Court decision requiring the government to reinstate an employee who was removed for political reasons. Furthermore, I pointed out that the enforcement of a court decree does not require the filing of a new lawsuit, but simply requires a court to follow its normal procedures for enforcement of any judgment, even though in this case, the judgment is against the government itself. Everyone laughed when I suggested the possibility that the court could order the Prime Minister himself to be put in jail.
Friday June 17 (Frank Wills Memorial day) Today we had our meeting regarding the mining case in the South Gobi. It is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with mining in Mongolia. The company got its permit as a result of excessive coziness between is representatives and governmental officials. The environmental assessment is a disgrace even by Mongolian standards, which barely require any assessment compared to U.S. requirements. The company wants to build a road right through the protected area to the Chinese border, because it is the most direct route. It could be an ideal case to bring, but obviously, CHRD’s resources are limited.
In the afternoon, Gaala is taking me on a weekend trip to the Omron Valley, the site of Karakorum, the Mongol capital in the 13th century and the Erdene Zuu monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia.
For those unfamiliar with Frank Wills – do a google search on “Watergate.”
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