Establishing a meaningful human rights due diligence process for corporations: learning from experience of human rights impact assessment

Human rights due diligence (HRDD) has become the buzzword of much of the advocacy and work today around business and human rights.1 It is almost commonplace that companies have the responsibility to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address these adverse human rights impacts as part of their ongoing HRDD processes, in line with the UNGPs.2 The assessment of human rights impacts (HRIA) is a critical step in this process.3

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The EU and Extraterritorial Obligations Concerning Human Rights

International Human Rights Law Review ◽

10.1163/22131035-00802007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 275-285

Author(s):

Ana Manero Salvador

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Human Rights ◽

International Relations ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Due Diligence ◽

Treaty Of Lisbon ◽

Human Rights Impact Assessment ◽

The Eu

The Treaty on European Union prescribes that the Union will promote its principles and values in international relations. Though the scope of the obligations foreseen by the treaty remains unclear, some aspects are becoming clearer, especially with regard to due diligence and the need for human rights impact assessment. Presently, it is generally recognised that actions with extraterritorial effects will undoubtedly be linked to these principles and values, and more specifically to human rights. This paper provides an analysis from current praxis of the scope of these obligations, including a description of the implications of the Treaty of Lisbon and developments that have taken place since it came into force.

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The corporate responsibility to respect human rights: a status review

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-09-2015-2230 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 542-567 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Claire Methven O'Brien ◽

Sumithra Dhanarajan

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Corporate Responsibility ◽

Due Diligence ◽

Corporate Accountability ◽

Content Type ◽

Civil Society Organisations ◽

Stage Of Development ◽

Wide Range ◽

Human Rights Due Diligence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a wide range of significant developments that have emerged in the wake of the UNs endorsement of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (GPs) in June 2011. In particular, the paper offers a preliminary assessment of how the GPs’ corporate responsibility to respect human rights has been interpreted and to what extent it has been operationalised through government action, business behaviour and the praxis of other social actors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a comprehensive assessment of a number of key developments related to Pillar 2 of the GPs – concerned with the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. More specifically, the paper considers a range of elements relating to corporate human rights due diligence, including: establishing a corporate human rights policy; the undertaking of human rights impact assessment; integrating findings of impact assessment, and; corporate human rights reporting. Findings – Based on the assessment of recent developments and initiatives, the paper suggests that the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, as expressed in Pillar 2 of the GPs, embodies the culmination of significant progress in the sphere of corporate accountability. In doing so, the paper documents a plethora of innovations in regulation and praxis, led by actors in government and the corporate sector, civil society organisations, labour unions and others, in the areas of human rights due diligence, impact assessment and reporting. Yet overall, change is slow and partial and the results achieved are still unsatisfactory. Severe business-related human rights abuses remain endemic in many industry sectors and in many countries. Research limitations/implications – The implementation of the GPs is at a key stage of development, with a multitude of initiatives and actors attempting to develop and influence new forms of corporate governance. This paper provides an overview and assessment of these key developments. Originality/value – This paper provides an important assessment and synthesis of key developments related to corporate responsibility for human rights.

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

Oxford Journal of Legal Studies ◽

10.1093/ojls/gqaa052 ◽

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.

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

Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law ◽

10.1177/1023263x20981367 ◽

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.

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From a Stark Utopia to Everyday Utopias

Volume 61 · 2018 - German Yearbook of International Law ◽

10.3790/gyil.60.1.575 ◽

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.

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