scholarly journals Corrupt from the Head Down: Human Rights Impacts of Political Favouritism in Public Procurement

2021 ◽  
pp. 205-223
Author(s):  
Nika Arevadze
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
The State ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Systemic Analysis ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
Novel Approach

Public procurement represents a significant part of the global economy and influencesthe nature and quality of public goods and services. Consequently, it has substantial direct and indirectlinks with the human rights of a wide array of rightsholders. However, public procurement systemsrarely reflect these links and remain resistant to calls on human rights integration from internationalorganizations and academic scholarship. While this divergence is often discussed, the root governance issues that create the gap between public procurement and human rights and contribute to the lackof progress remain relatively unexplored. This paper investigates a prevalent governance issue inpublic procurement – political favouritist corruption schemes – and their role in the paradoxical lackof progress in aligning public procurement systems with human rights requirements. Through theanalysis of primary and secondary sources, the paper demonstrates the links between such corruptpractices and prevalent human rights issues in public procurement. It argues that by underminingpublic procurement systems, political favouritism jeopardizes primary economic and secondarysocial objectives of procurement and brings about adverse human rights impacts. These impactsharm civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural human rights in national contextsand obstruct the development at large. Moreover, this corrupt arrangement represents a roadblockfor promoting human rights integration in public procurement and, hence, hampers the progressfor the novel approach of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in general, andits provisions concerning the state-business nexus in particular. The paper concludes by outliningthe need for further interdisciplinary and empirical research which will explore this issue throughthe lens of business and human rights, and offer a systemic analysis of root causes, the state of playand potential solutions.

Creating a Human Rights Framework for Mapping and Addressing Corporate Tax Abuses

2019 ◽  
pp. 385-408
Author(s):  
Matti Kohonen ◽  
Radhika Sarin ◽  
Troels Boerrild ◽  
Ewan Livingston
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
The State ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Corporate Personhood ◽  
Business Partners ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Decisions ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

This chapter identifies several areas of convergence between the fields of tax policy and human rights. These include the concept of the corporation as a unitary entity; the notion of extraterritorial impacts and obligations of states and corporations; and the risks of corporate personhood. These principles are all highly relevant to corporations’ human rights due diligence and risk assessment of their tax policies. Applying a business and human rights perspective to international tax law can clarify responsibilities of companies toward their other stakeholders as well as their relationship with subsidiaries and business partners in terms of responsible tax conduct. The chapter then explores two dimensions of the human rights impacts of tax-related corporate decisions: impacts mediated by the state and impacts not mediated by the state.

scholarly journals Remedying depletion through social reproduction: a critical engagement with the United Nations’ business and human rights framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-202
Author(s):  
Beth Goldblatt ◽  
Shirin M. Rai
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The United Nations

The growing recognition of unpaid work in international law and the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledges that gendered labour supports the global economy. This work can have harmful impacts, leading to ‘depletion through social reproduction’ (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="CIT0036">Rai et al, 2014</xref>). When corporate harms impact on workers and communities, family members are often required to provide caring labour for those directly affected. However, the consequential harms of depletion are generally invisible within the law and uncompensated. In assessing the United Nations’ business and human rights framework, we argue that the international legal regime must take account of social reproductive work and its consequent harms.

scholarly journals The State regulation of Public Procurement in Ukraine in the Context of Reforms and Integration Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (517) ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
O. I. Laiko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Economy ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Added Value ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
International Distribution ◽  
Procurement System ◽  
The Impact

The article is concerned with topical issues of the State regulation of public procurement in Ukraine in the context of reforms and integration processes. The conceptual principles of regulation of the public procurement system have been formulated, taking into account the requirements and challenges of modern processes of reforms of the national economy and the implementation of the European integration vector. The public procurement system is considered as a new institutional unit in the national economy – the market for goods and services to the State-owned institutions and organizations with the involvement of budgetary funds. The significance of the public procurement system for the country’s economy as an environment for financing and implementing entrepreneurial initiatives aimed at creating high-quality goods and services, which is characterized by volumes equal to 15% of GDP, is substantiated. The article is aimed at defining the theoretical-conceptual and applied principles of the State regulation of the public procurement system in Ukraine in the context of efficient implementation of reform goals and taking into account the impact and challenges from the active participation of the national economy in the international distribution of labor in the course of integration processes with the EU countries. The article defines the key directions of the State policy on the regulation of the public procurement system, which include: stimulating the economic development of the entrepreneurial sector and overall economic growth on the basis of sustainability and balance; support for the production of domestic goods and services with high added value; stimulation of production of goods and services using local resources; stimulating the creation by domestic producers of both goods and services of cooperation associations in order to use the opportunities for the distribution of labor to create more competitive products; supporting the formation of an economic basis for the development of territorial and economic entities in the regions of Ukraine. As for the above defined directions of the State regulation of the public procurement system in Ukraine, appropriate measures have been proposed, the implementation of which is expected to contribute to the strengthening of the national economy and does not contradict the provisions of ratified international agreements.

PRINUDNO PRIBAVLjANjE DOBARA I USLUGA SA OSVRTOM NA EKSPROPRIJACIJU (osnovne postavke)

2021 ◽  
pp. 268-289
Author(s):  
Milan Rapajić ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Procurement ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Person ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
Private Goods ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Legal Nature

In this paper, the author deals with the issue of forced acquisition of goods and services. The topic is approached both according to positive law and from the historical aspect. Attention is paid to various forms of confiscation of property with a special analysis of the process of expropriation of private goods and services. After public procurement, expropriation is the most common type of procurement of goods and services for the benefit of the state or the wider community. Also, expropriation, on the other hand, is a forced way of transferring the property rights of a natural or legal person on immovable property in favor of the state, which is done in the public interest and with compensation (which should be fair). Other coercive ways of acquiring property for the benefit of the state (ie public entities) are: nationalization, confiscation and arondation. However, only expropriation (from the extraordinary measures mentioned in the paper) has a wider application or significance for the regular functioning of the state, ie its public administration. The author (also) looks at the types of forced acquisition of goods and services for their temporary use. Requisition for the needs of the country's defense is of wider significance. Finally, instead of a conclusion, the legal nature of expropriation was pointed out. It is an institute of mixed legal nature - administrative law nature (public law elements) and property law nature (civil law elements). However, its public law elements prevail.

Business & human rights: a commentary from the inside

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Posner
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
First Century ◽  
Forced Labor ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
The Us

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to first, provide an overview of the genesis of the business and human rights agenda; second, to identify key areas of focus in the emerging business and human rights agenda; and, finally, to argue for an approach to engaging business in the human rights agenda that is both challenging and practically orientated. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the author’s ethnographic experiences both as a human rights advocate with Human Rights First (1978-2009) and as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the US State Department (2009-2013). Findings – The paper links the business and human rights agenda to the growth in size and power of corporations. It identifies six key areas of focus in this emerging agenda, specifically, supply chains and labor rights, the extractive industries especially relating to security, information technology and issues of freedom of expression, agriculture and issues of child and forced labor, and investment and socially responsible investors. The paper contends that business schools have a crucial role to play in engaging businesses in a challenging and practical way to provide them with workable solutions to these challenges. Research limitations/implications – The paper contends that we have come to the end of the beginning of the discussion of business and human rights and are now in the phase of defining what the rules are in this twenty-first century global economy. The paper provides important considerations for taking this phase forward. Originality/value – This paper provides original insights into the emergence of the business and human rights agenda. It identifies key areas of focus along with a valuable approach to making progress in these areas.

scholarly journals Toward a Strategic Engagement with the Question of the Corporation

2021 ◽  
pp. 313-333
Author(s):  
Michael Bader
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
The Political ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Corporate Rights ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Form

AbstractCorporations, in their quest for the highest profit margin, have violated human rights, labour rights and environmental standards for decades, with little to no accountability. In recent years, the fight for corporate accountability under the banner of “Business and Human Rights” has come to dominate civil society’s engagement with the “question of the corporation.” This chapter aims to critically examine the political objectives underpinning the broad-church project of Business and Human Rights in its world-making aspirations, taking the Legally Binding Instrument currently under discussion at the UN Human Rights Council as a case study. Using a historical narrative approach, this article first situates the evolution of Business and Human Rights within neoliberal globalisation and, against this backdrop, attempts to think through the “dark side” of this particular strand of human rights activism. By bringing critical legal scholarship on the corporation and human rights into closer conversation with Business and Human Rights, the article aims to excavate the latter’s structural flaws, namely that it leaves the asymmetries in the global economy and the imperial corporate form unchallenged. By problematising Business and Human Rights’ presupposition of business as fact and its uncritical embrace of rights as positive change-makers, the article presents an invitation to rethink strategic political objectives vis-à-vis corporate rights abuses.

scholarly journals Sustainable Public Procurement and Human Rights: Barriers to Deliver on Socially Sustainable Road Infrastructure Projects in Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9605
Author(s):  
Laura Treviño-Lozano
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Sustainable Infrastructure ◽  
Road Infrastructure ◽  
Procurement Process ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Business And Human Rights

Public procurement involves a process through which the public sector buys goods, services and works from private suppliers to accomplish its functions, including road infrastructure projects. Sustainability, both within the procurement process and the infrastructure outcome, comprises economic, environmental and social dimensions. Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) is acknowledged as a core dimension of sustainable development goal 12 (SDG12) on sustainable consumption by States and production by businesses, and as a State-business nexus within Pilar I of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Clearly, SPP delivering sustainable infrastructure involves broad positive effects and benefits for involved stakeholders and leveraging power over business suppliers to include social sustainable criteria within the procurement process is in the State’s hands. However, SPP has been little implemented in developing States such as Mexico resulting in unsustainable infrastructure outcomes. This article explores, through two case studies, the barriers of socially sustainable public procurement of road infrastructure developed by businesses contracted by the State in Mexico. By identifying such barriers, the Mexican State could be able to implement measures to tackle them and deliver on social sustainable infrastructure aligned with its commitments on sustainable development goals and its international obligations on human rights.

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