The Center for Strategic Litigation (CSL) has sent to the Basic Court in Prishtina, Department of Administrative Affairs: Lawsuit for Administrative Dispute against Decisions of the Ministry of Economy and Environment and the Energy Regulatory Office for Issuance of Water, Environmental Permits and Licenses for Hydropower plants HPP Deçani and HPP Belaja of the company Kelkos Energy Sh.pk

This is the first strategic case sent to the court by the Center which deals with the violation of the right of citizens to a clean and healthy environment. Based on the evidence provided by the plaintiffs in this case, the non-governmental organizations Pishtarët and The Group for Legal Studies, as well as from the numerous statements of the citizens of Deçan regarding the process of issuing these decisions, we have found that:

1. During the process of issuing these permits, the citizens of Deçan have been violated their fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, they have been denied the right to participate in decisions related to the environment in which they live. So, the development of such a large project as the construction of the Cascade of Hydropower Plants in Deçan, with very serious consequences in the lives of citizens living there, has been held without conducting public debate as required by law;
2. We have found that the process of issuing these permits has been non-transparent and that the erroneous factual situation has been established. Respectively, from the evidence we have provided, the company Kelkos Energy Sh.p.k. has not rehabilitated the environment as required by law and has degraded the environment. Therefore, on this basis, we have asked the court to annul all these decisions, and we have requested the postponement of their execution until the court makes a final decision regarding the legality of the whole process.