Lawsuit Against Environment Ministry Over Extension of Hydropower Plant Permits in Deçan

The Centre for Strategic Litigation Cases, together with the organisations Pishtarët, EcoZ and Gjethi, has filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court in Pristina against the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP). The lawsuit challenges the extension of environmental permits for the Deçani and Belaja hydropower plants, published on June 16.

According to the Centre for Strategic Litigation Cases, the issue is not limited to the two environmental permits, but concerns the way institutions make decisions and whether citizens’ voices have been heard in the process.

The organisations are asking the court to annul the environmental permits for HPP Deçani and HPP Belaja and return the procedure to the public consultation stage. They are requesting that the Ministry organise a new public consultation, provide timely access to all relevant documents and information, and explain how it considered the comments and evidence submitted by citizens before making its decision.

The statement says that citizens and civil society organisations have for years sought the public’s right to participate in procedures related to environmental permits. According to them, the demand was raised after permits were issued for hydropower plants on the Lumbardh River in Deçan in 2020 and was supported at the time by the current Environment Minister, initially as an MP and later as chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment.

The organisations stress that, under the 2025 Administrative Instruction on Environmental Permits, a public discussion should have been held on the permits for the hydropower plants in Deçan.

According to their response, organisations and activists submitted comments, technical analyses and evidence raising serious concerns about the procedure, relying on this right. They claim that the public was not provided with timely access to important documents and information, making full and informed participation impossible. The organisations say that, although the Ministry was aware that the process was not being conducted in accordance with the law, it proceeded with issuing environmental permits for HPP Deçani and HPP Belaja without responding to or taking into account the comments and evidence submitted by the public.

The Centre for Strategic Litigation Cases operates as a platform established by the Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS).