Assessment of the Application of the Rule of Law

Principles in the Environmental Governance of

the Mozambican Mining Sector (ROLPA) –
Findings and Recommendations

Workshop on EG of the Mining Sector

Kwale - Kenya, May 15, 2018

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Presentation Sequence

1 Background and Relevance

2 Methodological Approach
3 Key Findings
4 Recommendations

2
Background and Relevance
Framework Scope

Extraction of any mineral resource in Mozambique depends The evaluation used the ROLPA (Rules of Law in Public
on obtaining the mining title, with MIREME through INAMI, Administration) methodology for mining licensing process, aiming
issuing the Mining License and MITADER for issuing the at:

related environmental license as well as the resettlement i. Providing a Global Evaluation of the Results of the beneficiary
agencies with regard to licensing and mining activities at
process, through DINAB and DINOTER.
economic level;
Being a complex process, multi-sectoral with a pronounced ii. Providing a accountability function, providing credible
impact on the socio-economic development of the country, it information on the compliance with the norms/standards and
was pertinent to assess the current stage of the Mining procedures of mining licensing by the beneficiary institutions and
their employees;
Licensing and its challenges – leading in guiding the
iii.Generating knowledge / lessons of the performance of the
institutions and agents/stakeholders involved in the mining
licensing actions for the beneficiary entities, communities and
licensing process using the ROLPA principles: (i) legality, (ii) the overall economy;
accessibility, (iii) right to be heard, (iv) transparency, (v) right iv.Indicate development aspects of beneficiary entities for the
to appeal, and (vi) accountability. improvement of their performance and the provision of services.

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Methods
1. Preparation /
Desk Review 3. Data Analysis

2. Data Collection 4. Evaluation Results / Findings

and Recommendations

Research Questions
Legality
▪ To what extent does the law cover the needs of mining operations at
1 beneficiary agencies, service users and communities?
▪ To what extent, what is established by the law, is fulfilled at the level
of beneficiary agencies, service users and local communities?
Transparency
▪ To what extent are the actions carried out by the beneficiary
4 agencies and the operators in the scope of the mining operation
publicized?
▪ What is the level of public domain issues that are not disclosed?

Acessibility
Right to appeal
2 ▪ What is the level of disclosure and knowledge of the law for the 5 ▪ To what extent can users have recourse to a decision taken by the
development of mining activities, at the level of beneficiary agencies,
beneficiary agencies?
service users and communities?

Right to be heard
accountability
3 ▪ To what extent are the views and perceptions of users and 6 ▪ What is the level of accountability of non-compliance actions on
communities taken into account in the development of activities of
employees of beneficiary agencies and users?
the beneficiary agencies?

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Methods (cont…)

5
 Key Findings
• Sensitivity of the users and the
proponents present differences -
civil servants with a more positive
evaluation, whereas the users
making relatively less positive
evaluation about the process;
• Both civil servants and users,
consider that the mining,
environmental and resettlement
licensing process needs
improvements (scale 0 – 4);
• Critical areas based on the ROLPA
principles are Accountability,
Right to be Heard and Legality.

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Key Findings (cont…)

Legal Framework
(Legality Principle)
• The procedures for licensing activities are clear
• Existence of differences in access to the legal norms that guide the activities of licensing by the different actors
• Conflict of interest issues are dealt with subjectivity
• The miners do not comply with the procedures for transmitting the licenses
• Cultural issues and their impact on the process, specifically on community resettlement, is not legislated

Procedural Framework
(Right to Be Heard & Right to Appeal Principles)
• The procedures for hearing process proponents do not comply with a pre-established structure promoting subjectivity in the
evaluation of cases
• Procedures for appealing to a process open up space for subjectivity. Proponents are expected to have direct appeal, however, the
variables and / or facts to be included in the appeal procedure are not established, and it is up to the proponent to create the
"model".

Operational Framework
(Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Principles)
• Autonomous and specialized operational structures
• Existence of a Platform for the dissemination of information on the situation of mining licenses
• Online information sharing and access mechanism
• Mechanisms for the operationalization of mining and environmental licensing processes with little integration
• Concentration of licensing activities at central level
• Control mechanisms with some limitations
• Resettlement process considered as an isolated process (and does not have specific requirements for its implementation) 7
• Significant differences in the time of licenses allocation
Recommendations

Legal Framework (Legality Principle)

• The need to provide specific criteria for the evaluation of license applications,
establishing intervals and verification mechanisms for the assessment components
already provided in the different process elements, such as the Mining Plan, technical and
economic feasibility study (Decree nº 31 / 2015 of 31 December), EIA, EMP (Decree No.
54/2015 of 15 December);
• Ensure the dissemination of legal regulations and provision of professional training to the
different process employees (Sub-national level);
• Disseminate existing regulations for mining, environmental and resettlement licensing
processes at the national, subnational and local level, as well as for users and process
proponents in order to ensure law compliance at all levels (and provide training for
employees in critical areas of the process);
• Ensure communities involvement in the process of reviewing the legal framework. In
particular, it is important to adjust the resettlement conditions provided in the law on the
basis of community studies and consultations on what is the best approach to preserve
their livelihoods and cultural values.
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 Recommendations (cont…)
Procedural Framework (Right to Be Heard & Right to Appeal Principles)
• Map-out the hearing and appeal processes in licensing and identify the main gaps that result in subjectivity and lessening
transparency, for the procedural adequacy;
• To elaborate manuals of procedures and operational directives of the appeal processes that the proponents of the licenses can be
obligated.

Operational Framework (Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Principles)

• Capacity building of employees of the mining, environmental and community resettlement services on tools and technical knowledge
(focus for Sub-national and Local levels). Need to map the main critical areas of the process, such as the analysis and validation
component of the applications submitted, in order to identify the gaps and provide the necessary tools and skills for the employees;
• Provide an online electronic monitoring and control tool, and public access, on environmental licensing processes similar to INAMI's
flexicadastre system;
• Provide an articulated system between all those involved in the mining licensing process, namely mining, environmental, land registry
and resettlement;
• Regulate the conflict of interest issues related to the licensing processes through a manual of procedures or operational directives. To
do this, it is necessary to map the existing situations and define the crucial ones to be regulated;
• Provide technical and operational autonomy for staff and institutions for the licensing of material and financial resources, in order to
guarantee their authority and independence to the processes regarding the companies / holders, who have borne the expenses
necessary for the audit and monitoring activities, which reduces the independence of officials and their institutions;
• Ensure more effective monitoring and oversight of licensing processes, at least at the level of documentary verification; i) status of the 9
licenses, compliance of the documents submitted with the process, etc, since it does not entail operational and financial costs.
Thank you

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