UN-BHR

NGOs Work Toward BHR "Benchmark" Tool

December 02, 2015

Author Sudeep Chakravarti provides an update on the development by the nongovernmental organizations Institute for Human Rights and Business and the Business and Human Rights ("BHR") Resource Centre on a "Corporate Human Rights Benchmark" that will pressure governments and businesses to abide by the global BHR principles.
Article Calls for "Industry-Specific Standards" for UNGPs

December 02, 2015

Dorothée Baumann-Pauly of New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights ("BHR") has called for companies, as part of their due diligence under the UN Guiding Principles for BHR ("UNGPs"), to gather with others in the same industries to develop "industry-specific standards" against which to measure their progress toward implementation of the UNGPs.
Consultants: Lawyers Will Be at Center of BHR Efforts

December 01, 2015

Adam Smith-Anthony and Laura Edwards at the business and human rights ("BHR") consultancy Omnia Strategy LLP write that corporate general counsel will in the future become a leading factor in coordinating efforts within businesses to implement the global BHR agenda.
Chair of UN Group Seeks BHR Measurement Framework

December 01, 2015

In a recent article, Chair of the UN Working Group on business and human rights ("BHR") Margaret Jungk calls for a "common framework" through which observers can measure the progress governments and businesses are making in implementing the UN Guiding Principles on BHR.
Finland Pushes BHR Agenda in Grocery Industry

November 06, 2015

The Finnish Government recently convened a set of roundtable meetings at which it developed a common statement with nongovernmental organizations and representatives of the Finnish grocery industry on how to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ("BHR") in relation to grocery supply chains.
NGO Seeks More Bank Reporting, Grievance Mechanisms

November 06, 2015

Ryan Brightwell from the nongovernment organization BankTrack warns that banks are not doing enough to fulfill the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and calls for banks to implement measures to do so through "systematic reporting" of their lending decisions and by establishing "grievance mechanisms" for alleged human-rights violations.
UN Working Group Seeks BHR Data from Businesses, States

November 05, 2015

In a report to the UN General Assembly, the UN Working Group on business and human rights ("BHR") issues highlighted the challenge of measuring corporate and state implementation of the BHR agenda and has called for more reporting from governments and businesses on how they are integrating the UN Guiding Principles on BHR in their policies.
Summary: Binding BHR Treaty May Be Counterproductive

November 04, 2015

An article from Donald Robertson at the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills summarizes past and upcoming work on developing a binding treaty on business and human rights ("BHR") issues and discusses concerns from some observers that such a treaty could be more difficult to implement than the current, nonbinding UN Guiding Principles on BHR.
Academic: BHR Treaty Should Include Criminal Liability

October 30, 2015

Dr. Nadia Bernaz of Middlesex University School of Law argues that a binding treaty on business and human rights ("BHR"), currently in negotiation at the UN, should establish that corporations are subject to criminal liability for serious human rights violations and bind governments to act to prevent and redress less-serious human rights violations.
NGO Calls for UK Legal Tools for Overseas BHR Violations

October 29, 2015

The CORE Coalition has published a report calling for the UK to develop enhanced legal tools with which it can threaten to prosecute criminally UK corporations that allegedly commit overseas violations of the business and human rights ("BHR") agenda and that would ease the burdens overseas plaintiffs face in bringing lawsuits against such corporations in Britain.