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	A Legal Lifeline for Communities Threatened by Resource Development Projects by Marena Brinkhurst Lawyers for Resource Justice, agencies   Rising global demand for natural resources has made protection of community lands an urgent priority, particularly in countries with little or no legal protection for community land rights. There are millions whose lands and environments are harmed by large-scale resource development.   Consider the villagers of Koh Kong province, Cambodia, where thousands of people have been—and continue to be—forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands to make way for huge plantations. The Cambodian government illegally leased the villagers’ farmlands and ordered their crops and homes demolished. The villagers have protested, sent formal complaints, and attempted to negotiate with the company and government officials, to no avail.   These types of injustices are not inevitable. In the case of Koh Kong, two local NGOs contacted the volunteer lawyers at the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP). The ISLP lawyers helped formulate a legal strategy to move the villagers’ case beyond the jurisdiction of Cambodia’s corrupt and ineffective judicial system. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to negotiate, the villagers decided to sue two UK-based sugar companies in the English High Court of Justice, where their case is ongoing.   There are thousands of communities around the world who could benefit from such powerful legal support to challenge irresponsible and exploitative resource development projects in this way. A new initiative, launched last week, can help.   Lawyers for Resource Justice is a collaboration between ISLP; Avaaz, a global web movement for organizing citizens; and Namati, a grassroots justice organization, to increase the legal support available to communities affected by large-scale resource development projects. We connect national and grassroots organizations with the Global Legal Empowerment Network, and link them to volunteer international lawyers who provide customized legal support and access to international jurisdictions. This initiative helps to empower vulnerable communities to use the law to protect their lands and environment, and amplify their voices internationally.   In this initiative, multidisciplinary teams of lawyers and other experts work with courageous national advocates and communities. Together, they develop strategies to prevent or remedy damages from large-scale resource development projects. Support includes providing legal training, proactively engaging government and investors on proposed projects, and representing communities in litigation against existing projects.   Take, for example, Kenya’s Kerio Valley region, where the discovery of potentially vast oil reserves has sparked anxiety among local residents. Community members, most of whom are subsistence farmers, have heard disturbing reports of the destructive effects of oil exploration and development in neighboring Turkana. They are troubled by complaints from Turkana community members that the oil company has not meaningfully consulted with them regarding impacts on security, livelihoods, and access to food and water.   Kerio Valley residents, lacking formal title to their lands, are especially worried about receiving appropriate compensation for land and resources. Although residents welcome the economic growth that hydrocarbon development might bring, they are concerned about environmental damage, local employment opportunities, and fair distribution of benefits.   In the summer of 2014, a community-based organization from Kerio Valley requested ISLP’s assistance in obtaining timely, clear, and complete information regarding oil development in the region and in representing the community in talks with the oil company. In response, ISLP enlisted volunteer lawyers with experience negotiating on behalf of marginalized communities facing resource development. The lawyers are backed by a highly skilled advisory team composed of an oil and gas expert, a corporate social responsibility specialist, authorities on relevant Kenyan law, and ISLP staff.   ISLP’s lawyers and staff have worked closely with members of the organization to identify community concerns and have traveled to the Kerio Valley to liaise with community members, discuss priorities and challenges, and strategize a way forward.   Exploratory drilling in the Kerio Valley is slated to commence in mid‐2015. In the meantime, ISLP aims to help residents reach an agreement with the developer that will govern compensation and community benefits during initial exploration, and outline a workable plan for continuing community engagement once the scale of any oil reserves is determined. In so doing, ISLP hopes that Kerio Valley will become an example of true “shared prosperity,” and avoid the resource curse that too often plagues communities facing resource development projects.   We believe that communities and grassroots organizations, not external experts, are the leading agents of social change. The approach of Lawyers for Resource Justice is to improve access to customized, strategic legal support when and how local advocates choose. By working together, we can link grassroots power with international expertise to ensure a truly rights-based approach to resource development.   Organizations, particularly those working on proposed or anticipated resource development projects, can request legal support through Lawyers for Resource Justice.   http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/legal-lifeline-communities-threatened-resource-development-projects http://namati.org/lawyers-for-resource-justice/
	Google faces anti-trust action from EU competition watchdog by Margrethe Vestager Guardian News, agencies   February 2016   French tax authority seeks $1.6bn in lost taxes from Google. (Guardian News, agencies)   France is seeking €1.6bn ($1.76bn) in back taxes from US internet giant Google, criticised for its use of aggressive tax optimisation (minimalization) techniques, a source at the finance ministry says.   “As far as our country is concerned, back taxes concerning this company amount to €1.6bn,” the official, who declined to be named, said on Wednesday.   The tax authority usually issues at least one preliminary assessment before its final assessment, which can be challenged in court if not accepted, tax advisers say.   Earlier this month, the finance minister, Michel Sapin, ruled out striking a deal with the US search engine company as the British government recently did, saying the sums at stake in France were “far greater” than those in Britain.   Google reached a £130m ($181m) settlement with British tax authorities for the period since 2005, which British politicians criticised on Tuesday as “disproportionately small”.   * The use of aggressive tax optimisation (minimalization) techniques by Google and other multinationals is common practice globally.   www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/24/france-google-tax-avoidance-back-taxes www.theweek.co.uk/68884/googles-back-tax-bill-for-france-is-ten-times-what-it-paid-in-the-uk   April 2015   The European Union has accused Google of cheating competitors by distorting internet search results in favour of its own services as it laid formal charges against the US technology company.   The EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said Google, which dominates search engines globally, had been sent a statement of objections – effectively a charge sheet – to which it can respond. Signalling Brussels’ renewed determination to take the battle to the company, it also opened an investigation into Google’s Android system which is used in about 80% of smartphones worldwide.   “Dominant companies have a responsibility not to abuse their powerful market position by restricting competition with others in markets where they are dominant or in neighbouring markets,” Vestager told a Brussels press conference.   “Our preliminary view is that in its general search results, Google artificially favours its own company’s shopping service and that this constitutes an abuse.”   The EU’s five-year inquiry found that in Google searches, the US firm gave prominence to its own comparison shopping services, regardless of their relevance to the search query, which diverted traffic away from competitors.   “We see that Google has engaged in misconduct in a broad number of member states since 2008 and continues to do so,” Vestager said. “The commercial importance of appearing prominently in Google search results is obvious.” She added: “If you can’t be found, you can’t do business.”   Industry groups said that without legal action, Google would have continued to ignore European competition rules.   David Wood, legal counsel for Icomp, an industry association part-sponsored by Microsoft, said: “We see this statement of objections as a crucial first step towards ensuring that European consumers have access to vibrant and competitive online markets.”   Google has 10 weeks to respond to the antitrust charges, with a potential fine of up to 10% of its annual turnover – or $6bn (£4bn) – now hanging over its head. A separate EU investigation has been launched into incentives offered by the internet search giant to smartphone manufacturers to pre-install and bundle apps and services on its Android operating system, used by manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC and Sony.   Vestager said the EU would investigate whether Google was hindering smartphone and tablet manufacturers from “forking” Android, using the free codebase that underpins the operating system to develop competing software free of Google’s influence.   Android is the world’s largest operating system, with an 81% share of the smartphone market, according to some estimates, giving rise to fears about market dominance. Google’s web search market share is over 90% in Europe, and the complaint against it in Europe was brought by Microsoft, TripAdvisor, Streetmap and others.   The European consumer organisation BEUC welcomed what it saw as EU enforcement of a ”non-discrimination principle” that would allow citizens to get fair and neutral search results.   Monique Goyens, the group’s director, said: “Search engines are consumers’ entry points for product information and price comparisons. Manipulating search results leads to broader problems for Europe’s digital economy, as Google’s market share means it essentially decides which companies are placed in the shop window. Such control restricts access, thereby reducing competition and resulting in less consumer choice.”   Three other EU investigations will continue into Google’s alleged misuse of competitors’ content, imposition of exclusivity restrictions on third-party websites that show Google search results, and operation of numerous restrictions that make it hard for advertisers to transfer data about their campaigns to competing platforms.   The EU believes that any legal success against Google could establish a broader precedent for enforcement of the bloc’s competition rules with other market search services.   A recent US inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission decided not to press charges against Google for demoting, refusing to display or linking to rival websites. But the ripples from any action by the EU could be felt across the Atlantic, and act as a spur to similar investigations into Google taking place in other countries.   “If the commission decides to go ahead with charges, it could have an impact beyond Europe, in the US and other places that Google is under investigation such as India and Russia as well,” Wood said.
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