Business, Human Rights, and Due Diligence: An Approach for Contractual Integration

2015 ◽  
pp. 414-431
Author(s):  
Blair E. Kanis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Due Diligence

Can Multinational Corporations be responsible for human rights violation of its outsourcee company? Response of national or international law?

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-179
Author(s):  
Alessandro Suppa ◽  
Pavel Bureš
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Corporate Law ◽  
International Economy ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Original Question ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Human Rights Violation

SummaryNowadays, an important role in the world is played by Multinational Corporations (MNCs). They hire, produce, and influence the international economy, but also, they exploit, pollute. Their business activities might have a worldwide effect on human lives. The question of the responsibility of MNCs has drawn the attention of many scholars, mainly from the study field labelled “Business and Human Rights”. The present paper does not examine the topic under the same approach. The authors aim at presenting the issue in a broader perspective, exploring the concept of due diligence both in international and corporate law. In this paper, authors strategically use the uniformity of national legislations as a possible and alternative solution to the issue. They are aware of three fundamental factors: 1) the definition of MNCs needs to be as clear as possible, so to avoid any degree of uncertainty; 2) the outsourcing phenomenon interacts with that definition; 3) in case of no possibility to include outsourcing in the definition of MNC, the original question arises in a significant way.

Corporate Liability Design for Human Rights Abuses: Individual and Entity Liability for Due Diligence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Human Rights Norms ◽  
Corporate Liability ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence ◽  
Individual Human

Abstract In this article, I critically review the economic theory of corporate liability design, focusing on the allocation of liability between a corporation and its individual human agents. I apply this theory to transnational commercial contexts where human rights abuses occur and assess the likely efficacy of some putative liability regimes, including regimes requiring corporations to undertake human rights due diligence throughout their global supply chains. I advance a set of general considerations justifying the efficacy of due diligence in relation to alternative liability regimes. I argue, however, that due diligence regimes will likely under-deter severe human rights abuses unless they are supported by substantial entity-level sanctions and, in at least some cases, by supplementary liability for individual executives. The analysis has significant policy implications for current national and international efforts to enforce human rights norms against corporations.

scholarly journals When Rights Enter the CSR Field: British Firms’ Engagement with Human Rights and the UN Guiding Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvise Favotto ◽  
Kelly Kollman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Market Competitiveness ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Corporate Social

AbstractThe adoption of the Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights by the United Nations (UNGPs) in 2011 created a new governance instrument aimed at improving the promotion of human rights by business enterprises. While reaffirming states duties to uphold human rights in law, the UNGPs called on firms to promote the realization of human rights within global markets. The UNGPs thus have sought to embed human rights more firmly within the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and to use CSR practices to improve corporate human rights accountability. In this paper, we explore how this incorporation of human rights into the CSR field has affected the business practices and public commitments British firms have made to promote human rights. We analyse the CSR reports published by the 50 largest British firms over a 20-year period starting in the late 1990s and interview senior CSR managers of these firms. We find that these firms have expanded how they articulate their responsibility for human rights over time. These commitments however remain largely focused on improving management practices such as due diligence and remediation procedures. Firms are often both vague and selective about which substantive human rights they engage with in light of their concerns about their market competitiveness and broader legitimacy. These outcomes suggest that, while firms cannot completely resist the normative pressures exerted by the CSR field, they retain significant resources and agency in translating such pressure into concrete practices.

Establishing a Corporate Responsibility Ombudsman: Enhancing remedy through state-based non-judicial mechanisms?

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-122
Author(s):  
Juho Saloranta
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Export Credit ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Credit Financing ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

This article assesses the efficiency of non-judicial grievance mechanisms in providing victims of corporate human rights violations with improved access to remedy. As no such mechanism is currently available, this article formulates a proposal for a new mechanism in the form of a corporate responsibility ombudsman, which would offer a great deal of flexibility as well as being an inexpensive, expeditious and informal manner of dealing with such issues. The article argues in favour of utilizing states’ regulatory arsenal to improve victims’ access to remedy extraterritorially. Based on recent international developments, I elaborate approaches to human rights due diligence regulation and export credit financing by means of two corporate responsibility ombudsman proposals. In relation to these proposals, I divide the effectiveness criteria of Principle 31 of the United Nations Guiding Principles into three main categories: empowerment, investigation and enforcement. Since obtaining sufficient evidence is of paramount to those seeking remedies for violations of corporate responsibility, states should bestow quasi-judicial powers on corporate responsibility ombudsmen to achieve efficiency, which could also create legitimacy. This article provides decision-makers and scholars with insights into how access to remedy could be synchronized with the momentum of human rights due diligence legislation in the European Union and beyond.

ON and DP v. Russian Federation

2021 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 463-486
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Lesbian Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rule Application ◽  
United Nations Convention

463Human rights — Women’s rights — Elimination of discrimination against women — Sexual orientation — Exhaustion of domestic remedies — Due diligence obligations — Obligation to investigate — Requirement of prompt and impartial investigation — Protection of lesbian women from violence — Gender stereotypes — Committee case law and general recommendations — Remedies — Whether Russian Federation violating Articles 1, 2 and 5 of United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979International tribunals — Jurisdiction and admissibility — United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women — Local remedies rule — Application in light of time bar under national law

From a Stark Utopia to Everyday Utopias

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 575-606
Author(s):  
Michelle Staggs Kelsall
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Karl Polanyi ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

This article considers the emergence of the Business and Human Rights agenda at the United Nations (UN). It argues that the agenda can be seen as an example of the UN Human Rights Council attempting to institutionalise everyday utopias within an emerging global public domain. Utilising the concept of embedded pragmatism and tracing the underlying rationale for the emergence of the agenda to the work of Karl Polanyi, the article argues that the Business and Human Rights agenda seeks to institutionalise human rights due diligence processes within transnational corporations in order to create a pragmatic alternative to the stark utopia of laissez-faire liberal markets. It then provides an analytical account of the implications of human rights due diligence for the modes and techniques business utilises to assess human rights harm. It argues that due to the constraints imposed by the concept of embedded pragmatism and the normative indeterminacy of human rights, the Business and Human Rights agenda risks instituting human rights within the corporation through modes and techniques that maintain human rights as a language of crisis, rather than creating the space for novel, everyday utopias to emerge.

The Continuum of Violence against Women and the Challenges of Effective Redress

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashida Manjoo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Special Rapporteur ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Rights Issue ◽  
The Continuum

Globally violence against women is a systemic and widespread problem. Despite the recognition of such violence as a violation of human rights, its numerous manifestations and increasing prevalence rates are a source of concern. The mandate of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences has over the eighteen years of its existence examined the phenomena both conceptually and in practice, through thematic reports and country mission reports, respectively. This article focuses on 4 aspects of violence against women. (1) It provides an overview of the evolution of violence against women as a human rights issue. (2) It examines the different manifestations of violence against women. (3) It examines the interpretation by States of their obligation to exercise due diligence in responding to and preventing violence against women. (4) It proposes a holistic approach to dealing with the issue of Violence against Women.

scholarly journals Makuchyan and Minasyan v Azerbaijan and Hungary: Novel Questions of State Responsibility, Presidential Pardon, and Due Diligence of Sentencing Transfer Meet in a Rare Case of the Right to Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kushtrim Istrefi ◽  
Cedric Ryngaert
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rare Case ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Prison Sentence ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right

Judgment: European Court of Human Rights, Makuchyan and Minasyan v Azerbaijan and Hungary 17247/13 (ECtHR, 26 May 2020) Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction). Section of the Court: Chamber (Fourth Section). Applicable Convention Rights: Article 2 echr – violation of procedural obligations by Azerbaijan, no violation of substantive obligations by Azerbaijan, and no violation of procedural obligations by Hungary. Article 14 echr and Article 2 echr – violation by Azerbaijan. Article 38 – no violation by Azerbaijan or Hungary. Primary Legal Issues: Did Azerbaijan acknowledge and adopt the conduct of R.S. in question as its own, and does that violate substantive obligations under Article 2 echr; Did Azerbaijan violate the procedural limb of Article 2 by pardoning and releasing R.S. following his transfer from Hungary to Azerbaijan to serve the prison sentence; Did Hungary violate the procedural limb of Article 2 because of failing to secure specific diplomatic assurances that Azerbaijan will not release R.S. upon his transfer. Link to Case: <http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-202524>.

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