A4ID seeks legal assistance for new Mining Code

A4ID is helping the Environmental Mining Education Foundation (EMEF) to find pro bono lawyers and law students from a range of countries to assist in reviewing its new Mining Code.

The Environmental Mining Education Foundation (EMEF) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Canada providing technical and strategic advice to inform and empower communities affected by mineral development and to support efforts to protect their interests and those of future generations.

EMEF has drafted Best Practices Mining Code for First Nations which compares British Columbia’s mining laws to the world’s leading legal standards associated with mining activities on indigenous lands, from pre-exploration to post-closure. The aim is to empower indigenous communities to seek more sustainable mining operations on their traditional territories by helping them identify best practices to include in land use plans, resource policies, and agreements with governments and mining companies.

EMEF will also be using the Code as a basis to seek reform of British Columbia’s century-old mining laws and set a good example of socially and environmentally responsive mining requirements for other jurisdictions to follow.

Participants will assist EMEF in reviewing the Code to ensure the laws referred to from other jurisdictions are accurate. This includes mining, aboriginal, land use planning, and environmental laws.

This project is suitable for English-speaking lawyers / law students from each of the following countries and states, with excellent research skills. Some background in mining, environmental and/or aboriginal law would be an advantage. It is expected that many different lawyers/teams will be involved.

  • Africa: Ghana; Madagascar; Mozambique; South Africa; Zambia
  • North America: Alaska; Arizona; California; Colorado; Idaho; Minnesota; Nevada; New Mexico; North Dakota; South Dakota; Pennsylvania; Virginia; West Virginia; Wyoming
  • South America: Brazil; Bolivia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; Mexico
  • Asia: East Timor; Mongolia; Myanmar; Pakistan
  • Oceania: New Zealand; Papua New Guinea

If Interested, please contact Elisabeth Baraka at elisabeth.baraka@a4id.org.