Supreme Court of the Province of Neuquen, 05/31/2012, Corporación Minera del Neuquen (CORMINE) S.E.P. v. Municipalidad de Loncopué / precautionary measure

CORMINE (the state-owned mining company of the Province of Neuquen) filed a request to suspend the enforcement of Ordinance 1054/2012 enacted by the Municipality of Loncopué. The object of this ordinance is to hold a referendum on 06/03/2012 to approve a proposal to ban open pit mining and leaching, among other activities related to mining within the Loncopué area. CORMINE also requested the Court to issue a precautionary measure to suspend the referendum. The claimants argued that the ordinance and the referendum were unconstitutional, as the Town Council does not have the powers to issue such regulation, to hold a binding referendum, and claimed that regulation of the mining activity is a federal matter.
The Court pointed out that it was a complex case that required a more comprehensive analysis. CORMINE’s requests were rejected, because there was not enough proof of the unconstitutionality of such regulations, given the presumption of validity that all acts issued by public authorities have and that the measures requested were of an exceptional nature. Moreover, the danger in the delay had not been proved either.