Santiago, Landau 26 May 2022
On 18 May, the Corte Suprema (Supreme Court) dismissed appeals by affected citizens and environmental organisations against the ruling of the Antofagasta Environmental Court of 16 April 2021. At the time, the Environmental Court had found that sufficient information on the conditions of the sensitive ecosystem had been available during the environmental assessment of the "Dominga" mining and port project. The 3rd Chamber of the Corte Suprema apparently wanted to avoid a judgement. First the chamber initiated mediation (see article "Can it be 10 percent more destruction?"). Now, too, the court did not make a decision on the merits, but stated that the approval procedure had not yet been completed. With this reasoning, the Supreme Court left the decision to the Ministerial Committee of the Boric government.