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Queensland Conservation Council Inc. v. Xstrata Coal

Filing Date: 2006
Reporter Info: [2007] QCA 338
Status: Decided
Case Categories:
  • Suits against governments
    • Environmental assessment and permitting
      • Natural resource extraction
Jurisdictions:
  • Australia
    • Queensland
      • Court of Appeal
Principal Laws:
  • Australia
    • Mining and other Legislation Amendments Act 2007 (Qld)
  • Australia
    • Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Queensland)
  • Australia
    • Mineral Resources Act 1989 (Queensland)
Summary:

An Australian state court reversed a lower tribunal’s decision, which granted an extension to Xstrata’s mining lease and denied Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) the ability to amend the conditions of the extension. The tribunal, concluding that the causal link between the mine’s greenhouse gas emissions and harms caused by global warming is an assumption, relied on evidence that was raised in neither Xstrata nor the QCC’s case. The court of appeals held that the tribunal, by merely informing the parties that it had become aware of documents which might be relevant to its decision, did not satisfy its obligation to afford the parties procedural fairness by giving them a real opportunity to present information or argument on a matter not already obvious but in fact regarded as important by the decision-maker.

The Queensland Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.

At Issue: Whether there was a breach of natural justice due to the Tribunal’s consideration of the new material doubting the existence of anthropogenic climate change.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Summary
10/12/2007 Decision Download No summary available.
10/12/2007 Decision Download Supreme Court of Queensland's decision

© 2023 · Sabin Center for Climate Change Law · U.S. Litigation Chart made in collaboration with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

The materials on this website are intended to provide a general summary of the law and do not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.