Australian Aborigines Plan Protests over Uranium Ruling

By Gwen Robinson inSydney

Aboriginal groups and environmentalists are planning protests across Australia after failing to block the development of a uranium mine on traditional Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. Australia's federal court ruled last week that the territory's government had the right to grant a mining lease at Jabiluka, which lies inside a World Heritage-listed national park, to Energy Resources of Australia (ERA). The company is one of Australia's two uranium producers.

The ruling virtually exhausted the legal options for the Mirrar Aboriginal people in their 20-year-old campaign to block uranium mining on their traditional land at Jabiluka, which contains one of the world's largest undeveloped uranium deposits. An appeal to the High Court, Australia's supreme judicial authority, is possible but unlikely, considering the weight attached to decisions by the federal court's full bench, analysts said.

The Mirrar group was granted custody of the land under the 1976 Land Rights Act. In recent years it has tried to overturn an earlier agreement between one of its former leaders, now dead, and mining interests. The group says that approval to mine at Jabiluka was given 'under duress'.

After the judgment, environmentalist groups, including Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society, said they would step up their protests, both at Jabiluka and in Australia's main cities, to try to halt development of the mine.

The managing director of North, a diversified mining company and majority owner of ERA, last week described the stand-off as a 'totemic issue'. 'As far as we can see, Jabiluka will stay on track and on timetable and there is no reason that legal challenges would hold it up,' he said.

BHP Makes a Pipe Dream Come True

Canada's Ekati diamond mine is a triumph of cooperation, writes Scott Morrison. The Ekati diamond mine sits alongside an important caribou migration route in Canada's desolate Northwest Territories. Grizzly bears and other wild animals are known to pass by occasionally, but the region was rarely visited by man until Broken Hill Proprietary, the Australian group, began developing the site almost two years ago.

The logistical challenges of establishing a mine in the remote region around Lac de Gras, some 300 km north of Yellowknife, were compounded by an inhospitable climate that can send temperatures plummeting to minus 50 degrees Celsius. The mine site was far from ideal and many sceptics believed hopes of extracting diamonds from the Canadian tundra were a pipe dream.

Territorial officials and native leaders acknowledge that BHP was quick to understand that for the project to succeed, the interests of the local population would have to be taken into account. The company spent several years negotiating with the territorial government and four native groups that claimed rights to the territory on which the diamond-bearing pipes were discovered.

Native and territorial leaders were very concerned about protecting the environment and demanded that the company divert waterways, safeguard against environmental damage and maintain the purity of small lakes at the mine site. In possibly the most contentious issue, government leaders demanded that BHP build a sorting and evaluation centre in Yellowknife and sell 10% of the mine's output to buyers within the territory. Native Indians have received training and jobs at the mine as well as financial compensation.

Over to you

1. Compare and contrast the two mines from the point of view oft (a) the local people; (b) the mining companies; and (c) the legal position. Quote exactly from the two articles to support your ideas. Use some of the following phrases to introduce quoted evidence:

According to...

Government leaders said...

Native groups argued...

A spokesman for... said...

2. Which of the two cases acknowledged the traditional rights of native peoples most satisfactorily? What more should be done, in your opinion?

 

IN CONFIDENCE

Princeton

Target Enterprises, 186 Roydon Street, London SW1

Date:

Dear Sirs

Confidentiality undertaking (this isan abridged extract from a confidentiality agreement and, as such, would not be suitable for use as a legal document).

1. In consideration of Target Enterprises (hereinafter 'The Company') providing Princeton Limited (hereinafter 'Princeton' 'us' or 'we') with information in relation, inter aha, to the business of the Company and the possibility of a transaction relating to the same (collectively, 'Confidential Information'), we hereby undertake to the Company, always subject to paragraph 2 below, as follows:

a) We agree that unless we have obtained your prior written consent, we will not disclose or permit the disclosure to any third party other than our Representatives (as defined in paragraph (b) below), the fact that the Company may be considering a possible transaction with us or with other parties, the fact that certain information has been made available to us regarding the Company, the fact that we and the Company are or may be engaged in discussions with respect to a possible transaction or the status of such discussions; and

b) The Confidential Information will be used solely for the purpose of evaluating, negotiating, advising on or implementing a proposed transaction and will be held in confidence by us and will not be disclosed to any person other than such directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives and advisers of Princeton group of companies (collectively, our 'Representatives')

c) We will upon the written request of the Company deliver to the Company or, at our option, destroy, all written Confidential Information provided to us, including any copies, extracts or other reproductions in whole or in part, of such written material. We will, upon the written request of the Company, use our reasonable endeavours to destroy all documents, memoranda, notes and other writings whatsoever prepared by us or any of our Representatives to the extent containing or reflecting or derived from any Confidential Information or any negotiations or proposals relating to any proposed transaction ('Relevant Material').

d) In the event that we and/or any of our Representatives are required by law, regulation or by any requirement of any regulatory body or other government authority to disclose any Confidential Information, notice of such fact shall be given to The Company by telephone or facsimile.

e) Unless and until a definitive written agreement is executed and delivered by us and the Company, neither we nor The Company shall be under any obligation to complete a transaction contemplated hereby and either we or The Company may, in its sole and absolute discretion, discontinue discussions, negotiations or due diligence related to any potential transaction; and0 The obligations of each of The Company and Princeton imposed by this letter of undertaking shall cease upon the earlier of the entering into of a binding agreement between The Company and Princeton and the second anniversary of the date hereof; and

g) This letter agreement may not be modified or amended except in the form of a written document executed by the Company and Princeton; and

2 The obligations on us under this letter of undertaking shall not apply:

a) To any information lawfully in the possession of ourselves prior to the supply of the Confidential Information; or

b) To information which enters the public domain after the supply of the Confidential Information for any reason not attributable to any actions of ourselves or our Representatives; or

c) Without prejudice to paragraph le above, to information which is required to be disclosed by applicable law or order of court of competent jurisdiction any government department or recognised stock exchange agency or other regulatory body or authority whether or not having the force of law; or

d) To information which is independently developed by us other than in breach of this letter of undertaking.

3 The Company agrees that we are not liable for any costs which the owners of The Company, its directors, employees or their respective advisers may incur in relation to the disclosure of the Confidential Information or any subsequent negotiations.

4 Subject to the express obligations herein, we shall be free to use the Confidential Information free of charge and without limit as to time, territory or manner of disclosure. This letter agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England.

Yours faithfully,

For and on behalf of Princeton Limited

Agreed and Accepted:

For and on behalf of Target Enterprises

Date:

Legal Brief

An agreement or a contract has no standing in law unless they are signed by all the parties named in the contract, and dated. A letter expressing an undertaking of confidentiality has as much legal force as a more traditional contract.

Over to you

1. Have you ever seen a contract, such as a marriage contract or a contract of employment? Who signs them and what happens if the contracts are broken? Where can you find examples of contracts to study? Try looking on the Internet, or at your local Citizens Advice office, or in your library. Research and make a short report on your findings.

2. Imagine that you and a partner have invented a product or service to sell. Write a letter to your lawyer, asking for some advice on drawing up a simple, clear and easy to understand contract between you and your partner, since you have only have a verbal agreement.

LICENCES

Memorandum of Agreement

made this..... day of................... 20......

Between................ of................ (hereinafter termed the Publishers) of one part and................ of................(hereinafter termed the Proprietors) of the other part WHEREAS the Proprietors are the proprietors of a work entitled:................ (hereinafter termed the Work),

Now it is hereby mutually agreed as follows:

1. Subject to the terms detailed in this Agreement, the Proprietors hereby grant to the Publishers the exclusive licence to produce and publish a single printing of 10,000 copies only of the Work in paperback form in the English language under the Publishers' own imprint (a publisher's trademark) (hereinafter termed the Licensed Edition) for sale throughout................ only. This restricted circulation is to be clearly indicated on the outside of the cover and on the reverse of the title page (usually the first page in the book) of the Licensed Edition by the following words: "Licensed for sale in................ only; not for export."

2. This agreement shall not come into effect until the Proprietors have received the (advance) payment detailed in Clause 9 hereof.

3. The Publishers shall produce the Licensed Edition at their own expense. They shall cause it to be reproduced faithfully and accurately and shall not abridge, expand or otherwise alter the Work, including illustrations where applicable, without the prior written consent of the Proprietors.

4. Should the Publishers fail to issue the Licensed Edition within 12 months from the date of this Agreement all rights granted under this Agreement shall revert to the Proprietors without prejudice to any monies paid or due to the Proprietors.

5. The Proprietors hereby warrant to the Publishers that they have the right and power to make this Agreement and that according to English law the Work will in no way whatever give rise to a violation of any existing copyright, or a breach of any existing agreement and that nothing in the Work is liable to give rise to a civil prosecution or to a civil action for damages or any other remedy and the Proprietors will indemnify the Publishers against any loss, injury or expense arising out of any breach of this warranty.

6. The Licence hereby granted to the Publishers shall not be transferred in whole or in part or extended to include any other party nor shall the Licensed Edition appear under any imprint other than that of the Publishers, except with the prior written consent of the Proprietors.

7. The Licence herein granted shall continue for a period of five years from the date of first publication by the Publishers of the Licensed Edition and thereafter may be subject to renewal by mutual agreement between the parties hereto.

8. If any difference shall arise between the Proprietors and the Publishers touching the meaning of this Agreement or the rights and liabilities of the parties hereto, the same shall be referred to the arbitration of two persons (one to be named by each party) or their umpire, in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1996 or any subsisting statutory modification or re-enactment thereof, provided that any dispute between the parties hereto not resolved by arbitration or agreement shall be submitted to the jurisdiction of the English courts.

Legal brief

Copyright is a legal term used to show the rights of ownership of creative ideas, originally for published literary works but later extended to include such things as music and motion pictures. New legislation is now needed to deal with the increasing use of the Internet and issues arising from abuses of intellectual property rights. In the EU, copyright protection lasts for 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. There are criminal penalties for infringement of copyright.

Over to you

1. Prepare a business letter to a law expert asking him or her to explain the licence agreement in simple terms. Make specific reference to the points you do not understand, such as the arrangements for arbitration.

2. Think about the licensed goods available in your country. Examine any examples you can find and list the physical signs you can identify (on labels, or on packaging, inside or out) that a licence has been used, or perhaps not used, legally. Then write a brief report.

 

CIVIL LITIGATION