UN-BHR

NGO Criticizes EU for Not Supporting BHR Treaty

December 22, 2015

The nongovernmental organization Friends of the Earth Europe has published a paper deriding the EU and its member states for supporting "corporate rights" through an investor-state dispute mechanism in its trade agreements but taking measures to oppose a wide-ranging, binding UN treaty on business and human rights ("BHR").
UN Agent Seeks Remedies for Forced Labor in Supply Chains

December 21, 2015

The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery Urmila Bhoola has called on countries to ramp up remedies and corporate liability for alleged forced labor in company supply chains and has pushed businesses to "leverage [their] extensive capacity and resources" to end these practices.
Activist Calls for More Comprehensive BHR Reach

December 17, 2015

Amol Mehra of the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable has called for the UN Working Group on business and human rights ("BHR") issues and others to "scale up" their education efforts in the UN system and with other international organizations regarding how international trade and other policies affect the BHR agenda.
Academic Calls for "Pluralistic" Approach to BHR

December 17, 2015

Assistant Professor Jernej Cernic from Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, writes that advocates of businesses and human rights ("BHR") must adopt a "pluralistic" approach to advancing their agenda, focused both on regulation of business conduct and access to remedies by alleged BHR victims.
Lawyers: BHR May Become "Hard" Law in Canada

December 16, 2015

Christopher Burkett and Jennifer Bernardo of Baker McKenzie highlight the hardening of what was considered "soft law" in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ("BHR") in the context of a human-rights lawsuit in Canada against Canadian companies for their alleged failure to prevent the collapse of a Bangladesh garment factory in 2013.
African NGOs Call for Expansive BHR Treaty

December 16, 2015

A document from dozens of African nongovernmental organizations ("NGOs") calls for a binding treaty on business and human rights ("BHR") that applies to all companies, that requires businesses to complete human rights impact assessment for increased transparency, and that expands the power of national human rights institutions to advance the BHR agenda.
BHR Forum Maintains Focus on Binding Treaty

December 16, 2015

Dr. Shane Darcy of the National University of Ireland Galway reports that much of the focus of November's UN Forum on Business and Human Rights ("BHR") was on a UN treaty currently under negotiation that would bind governments, and perhaps businesses, to respect BHR principles.
UN Agent Calls for End to Investor Dispute Mechanism

December 16, 2015

In a recent op-ed, UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order Alfred de Zayas called for the abolition of investor-state dispute settlement provisions ("ISDS"), mandating state-investor arbitration in many trade agreements, and for a "world conference" to establish a binding treaty on business and human rights.
NGOs Seek Support for BHR Agenda in Development Finance

December 14, 2015

The Coalition for Human Rights in Development and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable have published a document expressing alarm at deregulation and privatization they say often accompanies private development finance and calling for development finance institutions to adopt mandates to advance the business and human rights ("BHR") agenda.
Advocates Press for "Action Plans" to Further BHR Agenda

December 09, 2015

Representatives from the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable have published an article calling for further development of "national action plans" ("NAPs") to advance the global business and human rights ("BHR") agenda and for a review mechanism to hold governments to account in implementing their NAPs.