The mining company Greenland Minerals A/S must pay the majority of the legal costs for Naalakkersuisut in connection with the arbitration case. The arbitration court ruled on Monday, March 9, 2026.
The decision comes after the arbitration court ruled in October 2025 that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the case between the company and Naalakkersuisut.
This is stated by Naalakkersuisut in a press release.
Greenland Minerals must pay the majority
According to the decision, Greenland Minerals A/S must pay 90 percent of Naalakkersuisut's expenses in connection with the issue of the arbitration court's jurisdiction. This corresponds to 14,354,937.07 kroner, which the company must pay within 30 days.
The amount is estimated and covers, among other things, legal fees and expenses for the settlement of the case itself. This includes fees for judges and staff, rental of premises, catering and other practical expenses. In addition, expenses for copying, transport and translations are included.
The question of the distribution of Naalakkersuisut's expenses in connection with a possible claim for compensation has not yet been decided.
The background to the conflict is that on 1 June 2023, Naalakkersuisut finally rejected Greenland Minerals' application for an exploitation permit for the Kuannersuit project in South Greenland. Prior to the rejection, Naalakkersuisut amended the uranium legislation.
Naalakkersuisut: A natural decision
Naalakkersuisut for Industry, Raw Materials, Energy, Justice and Equality, Naaja H. Nathanielsen, welcomes the decision.
- Naalakkersuisut is incredibly satisfied with the decision, which is a natural consequence of our being successful in the issue of the arbitration court's jurisdiction last autumn. I believe that this is the only correct decision. Naalakkersuisut has maintained throughout the case that the case belongs in the courts and cannot be brought before an arbitration court. And it cannot be right to impose costs on a plaintiff who is bringing a hopeless case, says Naaja H. Nathanielsen.
She also points out that the case is not yet concluded:
- The fact that we are left with some minor expenses is to be expected when you consider that the case has cost the other party up to 100 million kroner, once they have paid the amount awarded to Naalakkersuisut in the decision, she says and continues:
- Now the case must continue in court. But right now we can be happy to have won a victory, and it is liberating that we can now focus our resources on the trial
The case continues in the High Court
Although the arbitration court has now decided the issue of legal costs, the conflict between Naalakkersuisut and Greenland Minerals is not over.
The case continues at the Greenland High Court, where a date for the hearing of the main issue of the case has not yet been set.
The arbitration case has been ongoing since March 2022. The decision on legal costs therefore marks the provisional end of this part of the case, but there may still be repercussions at the arbitration court if the courts refer a possible compensation issue there, Naalakkersuisut informs.
