The Attorney General has moved to Nuuk

Since 2016, the attorney general Poul Schmith in Copenhagen has had an agreement with the self-government on the procurement of legal assistance.

This assistance has been increasingly used, and has now been replaced by a larger framework agreement that covers all the self-government authorities, institutions and companies.

At the same time, the Attorney General has also entered into an agreement to lend lawyers to the Self-Government authorities. In recognition of the many tasks in Greenland, the Attorney General has opened an office in Nuuk at Issortarfimmut 7 - in the same building as the Sermitsiaq Media House.

Subpoenas from mineral companies

The agreement is being used, among other things, by the Department of Mineral Resources in connection with the two lawsuits from the Chinese-owned London Mining and the Australian Energy Transition Minerals.

London Mining sued the self-government on November 15, 2022. According to the company, because they had been illegally deprived of their exploitation permit for iron ore from Isukasia north of Nuup Kangerluaq back in 2021.

The Government's justification for withdrawing London Mining's exploitation permit was that the company had repeatedly requested extensions of time and that there was no progress on the project. In addition, the company had not paid the full amount into the security deposit account despite repeated reminders.

London Mining

According to London Mining's lawsuit, their exploitation permit from 2013 should remain valid if they submit an exploitation and closure plan within 18 months of the judgment. In the alternative, they are seeking damages of 20 million kroner and the release of their security deposit account, which amounts to 6 million kroner.

Nuna Advokater and Horten Advokatpartnerskab are conducting the case for the company, while the Chamber Advocate is conducting the case for the mineral resources authorities.

The actual issue of the right to extend the permit and the claim for compensation is, in this respect, simple and could probably be resolved in 2025, but then London Mining demanded access to a number of internal documents that have been exchanged between various departments and boards within the Greenland Government, and the Greenland Government considered this not to be relevant.

The court in Greenland initially ruled in favour of Naalakkersuisut, but London Mining brought the issue of access to documents before the High Court, which has allowed the appeal and is currently considering the case. Due to the issue of access to documents, the main case regarding the company's right to an extension of the permit and the claim for compensation has been postponed and has not yet been scheduled.

Energy Transition Minerals

The other major case that the Attorney General is handling for the self-government is the case against Energy Transition Minerals, which believes that they have been unjustly deprived of their license at Kuannersuit and thus the opportunity to move forward with their project.

The company has demanded an exploitation permit or compensation of 76 billion kroner.

According to a previous access to documents made by Sermitsiaq, the case has so far cost the self-government 18.7 million kroner in legal costs.

Arbitration and city court

In November, the arbitration court after three years, reached the conclusion that they did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. On this basis, the Self-Government believes that they should have covered all their legal costs. The arbitration court is currently deciding on this.

A few days after the arbitration court reached its decision in November, the Copenhagen City Court also ruled that the Self-Government could not be sued in the city court. Here too, the Self-Government has submitted a cost estimate via the Attorney General's Office, so that the court can decide whether the company should pay for the Self-Government's legal costs.

The case between Energy Transition Minerals and the Government of Greenland is therefore scheduled to proceed in the Greenland High Court as the first instance. It is still unknown when the case will come before the court.

According to Sermitsiaq information, the case will probably not be scheduled until 2027 at the earliest.