Exploitation of stone quarry in forests property – report of water and forests office – exploitation of quarries law. Pays/Territoire Maroc Type de cour Nationale - cour supérieure Date Jui 14, 2012 Source UNEP, InforMEA Nom du tribunal Court of Cassation Siège de la cour Rabat Langue Anglais Résumé The court acquitted the company from the misdemeanor of exploiting a stone quarry within forests property without authorization based on what the company provided including a rent contract between the company and the ethnic community and the authorization to open a stone quarry attributed to it by the ministry of equipment. However the court did not examine the content of the ministerial decision taken on February 18, 1999 mentioned in the report establishing the misdemeanor made by the water and forests office, in order to make sure if the quarry subject of the report falls within forests property or within the private property of the ethnic community. In addition the law on exploiting quarries states that if the quarry to be exploited falls within public property or forests property, the exploiter must provide the authorization submitted to them by the administration in charge of the management of the said property. This authorization allows clearly the exploitation of the quarry for a specific period of time and, it is not permissible to start the exploitation of a quarry unless it is authorized according to the provisions of Article 3 of the said law, through which is irrevocably and clearly defined in the authorization submitted by the concerned department the period of exploitation which was not included in the statement presented by the company. Hence the appealed decision should be overruled.Decision overruled Disponible en Court of Cassation’s Decisions on the environment