Kinshasa, January 21st, 2026 (CPA).– An urgent appeal was lodged on Wednesday by a mining company before the judge of the Council of State of the Democratic Republic of Congo to claim full use of mining areas, during a hearing in Kinshasa.
‘Our request is being made under summary proceedings because we believe that our client’s rights have been violated, in particular the right to property and security of investment, the right to legal recourse and the freedom to fully enjoy mining concessions,’ argued the lawyers for Mikuba Mining. They also argued that their company held an exploitation and exploration permit that was cancelled by letters of decision issued by the Mining Registry (Cami), the body that manages mining plots in the DRC. In their view, this decision was without valid grounds, given that their company was in good standing, before asking the judge to order ‘urgent measures’ to restore the company’s rights. ‘Declare the application admissible and well-founded, awarding it the benefits of its entire mining perimeter,’ said the company’s lawyers. Based on Article 197 of the Mining Code, the legal advisers to the Mining Registry stated that their client’s decision was motivated by the law. They asserted that the operating license is granted for a period clearly defined by law and is maintained through the payment of annual surface rights, half of which is paid to the Directorate General of Administrative, Judicial, State Property and Participation Revenue (DGRAD) and the other half to the Cami account.
‘Unfortunately, however, the applicant paid the entire amount into the DGRAD account. This failure to comply with the law directly resulted in the expiry of the operating licence at the end of the term,’ they said.
The judge asked to dismiss the application
On this occasion, they asked the judge to dismiss the application and for the judge sitting in ‘summary proceedings’ to declare himself incompetent following the subject of the application, which, according to them, appears to be the suspension of an administrative decision. ‘Furthermore, there is no violation of the law. The applicant lost it automatically by not paying the tax on surface rights as normal,’ they continued. The president of the chamber, sitting alone in this matter, suspended the case to deliver his verdict within the legal time limit. Mikuba Mining challenged a 2024 decision by Cami notifying the applicant of the expiry of its operating license due to non-payment of surface rights before the Council of State.
The summary proceedings procedure is an emergency appeal before an administrative judge to obtain, within 48 hours, measures to stop a serious and manifestly illegal infringement of a freedom committed by the administration, without the need for an appeal on the merits, and is particularly suitable for situations of extreme distress such as the right to accommodation. ACP/