BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Andean Court of Justice, which interprets and enforces the laws of the Andean Community trade bloc, has admitted an unprecedented case against Peru over alleged failures to combat illegal mining, marking the first time the court will examine whether a member state has met its regional obligations in fighting illegal mining.
The lawsuit challenges the government’s repeated extensions of REINFO, Peru’s mining formalization program created to help informal small-scale miners become legal. Critics say the repeated extensions have instead allowed illegal mining operations to continue under temporary legal protection.
