Source: PNG Mine watch

A legal analysis commissioned by the Mineral Policy Institute says Bougainville's new Mining Law fails to protect the rights of local people. The law is also in breach of Bougainville's own Constitution and is inconsistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

The opinion [document 160kb] finds the rights given to customary landowners under the new mining law are vastly inferior than those given to the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the consultation provisions fail to fulfill the universally recognized principles of prior, free and informed consent.

By giving joint ownership of customarily owned mineral resources to landowners and the Autonomous Bougainville Government, the law contradicts Bougainville's Constitution which requires laws to protect the ownership of mineral resources by the people of Bougainville in accordance with custom.

The opinion was provided in August 2013 and considers an earlier draft of the Mining Law, but none of the key provisions of the law that was passed earlier this month are materially different.