After 10 years of legal proceedings, the residents of Mallakastra won the first legal battle for environmental issues in our country. The Administrative Court of Appeal in Tirana canceled on Wednesday the decision on the construction of the Poçem hydropower plant on the Vjosa River. The court ruled in favor of the residents and environmental organizations, confirming the full first-instance decision and its arguments in support of the plaintiffs' claims.
DECISIONmarks the final victory of the first environmental case handled by the Court in Albania.
The legal battle started in December 2016 by EcoAlbania, EuroNatur and Riverwatch, together with 38 residents of Kutë village in Mallakastër. They opposed the construction of the Pocem hydropower plant, claiming that "the procedures followed for awarding the concession contract as well as the process of consultations with the public, were carried out in violation of Albanian legislation and international conventions".
Residents and organizations won the first battle in May 2017, when the Administrative Court of First Instance decided in favor theirs.
The sued parties are the Ministry of Environment, the National Environment Agency, the State Attorney (on behalf of the Ministry of Energy) and the concessionaire company (Kovlu Energy), which appealed the decision of the Administrative Court of First Instance.
After 8 years, the Court of Appeal has decided to dismiss their lawsuit and to uphold the decision of the Administrative Court of First Instance.
While this legal battle continued, residents and environmental organizations such as EcoAlbania launched the campaign to protect the Vjosa river "Saving the blue heart of Europe".
After a long struggle, in March 2023, the Vjosa river and its tributaries Drino, Bënça, Shushica and Kardhiqi, were declared a National Park, offering legal protection even from the 45 hydropower plants planned to be built throughout the Vjosa basin.
The head of Eco Albania Olsi Nika in a reaction to the media said that "even though this decision comes in a different reality, after the announcement of the Vjosa National Park, we consider it as an achievement for the community, activists and lawyers engaged in the protection of the Vjosa river, who have followed this issue with rigor and determination ".
The Poçemi Hydropower Plant was the first lawsuit filed in an environmental case in the Administrative Court in Albania. It paved the way for many other environmental issues raised by organizations and residents to demand the right to preserve the country's natural resources.
The lawyer of the case, Vladimir Meçi, said that the final decision constitutes an achievement in the construction of administrative judicial practice related to environmental law in Albania.
"The whole progress of the issue of the opposition to the construction of the Pocem HPP in court is a pioneering model for all those who have been part of it, including the organizations, the community, the lawyers, but also the court itself", Meçi said.
He completed master's studies in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Journalism at the University of Tirana. She has been working as a journalist for five years, where she previously covered issues of politics and parliamentary activity, in print and online media. She is currently a journalist at Citizens.al, where she covers various social issues related to the transparency of institutions. At Citizens.al, she leads the podcast "The Unheard" and is engaged as a manager of projects related to the support of investigative journalism.
