Borenius represented two former executives of Talvivaara Mining Plc

We represented two former top executives of the formerly London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Helsinki listed company Talvivaara Mining Plc (“Talvivaara”, also known as Ahtium Plc, now bankrupt) in nine civil proceedings that followed the criminal proceedings regarding the aggravated impairment of environment in the vicinity of the Talvivaara mine. The civil claims for damages that pertained to the impacts of the imputable acts and which totalled approximately EUR 500,000 were detached from the criminal proceedings and litigated in a consolidated trial in December 2021.

On 18 February 2022, the district court rendered judgments in all of the nine proceedings. All claims were dismissed as being either time-barred or without merit. Regarding the latter, the court reasoned that the claimants failed to demonstrate that the claimed damage resulted from illicit emissions and that there was a causal link between the defendants’ imputable conduct and the alleged damage pursuant to Section 3 of the Act on Compensation for Environmental Damage 737/1994.

The rulings set a standard regarding the damages to be paid on the basis of an environmental offence as well as the liability of limited liability companies and their representatives.

Borenius has previously represented the executives in question in the preceding criminal case, where most of the charges were dismissed, including the claim regarding the criminal forfeiture in the amount of EUR 13 million. The criminal case was the first of its scale and complexity in Finland, and it is the leading and the most often cited precedent in matters where environmental liability of limited liability companies and their management is concerned.