UN-BHR

NGOs Push for BHR Treaty Focus on All Corporations

July 22, 2015

At a recent meeting of the intergovernmental working group charged with developing a binding UN treaty on business and human rights ("BHR") issues, a group of nongovernmental organizations ("NGOs") called for the BHR treaty to include the activities of all corporations around the globe and to focus on the "transnational operations" of these businesses.
NGO Criticizes EU for Seeking to Undermine BHR Treaty

July 21, 2015

A representative of the nongovernmental organization Friends of the Earth Europe has accused EU representatives of seeking to undermine negotiations over a binding UN treaty on business and human rights ("BHR") issues.
Activists Call for Clampdown on "Impunity" Through BHR Treaty

July 17, 2015

Activists from the Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and the Treaty Alliance, both of which have called for the development of a stringent UN business and human rights ("BHR") treaty, are pushing for the treaty to include criminal liability for corporations and their directors for alleged violations of the global BHR and environmental agendas.
NHRIs Push for National Action Plans in Binding BHR Treaty

July 17, 2015

The International Coordinating Committee for national human rights institutions ("NHRIs") has submitted a statement to the working group charged with developing a binding business and human rights ("BHR") treaty calling for the treaty to push national BHR action plans and for it to apply both to multinational and domestic companies.
BHR Treaty Submission Seeks Inclusion of "Right to Development"

July 16, 2015

A submission by the Legal Resources Centre to the working group charged with developing a legally binding business and human rights ("BHR") treaty calls for the inclusion of a "right to development" in the treaty and pushes for the establishment of an independent agency with prosecutorial powers to enforce this and other rights.
NGO Spotlights Breadth of BHR Agenda

July 16, 2015

Lise Smit of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law writes that under the UN's business and human rights ("BHR") principles, corporations must not only be concerned with respecting human rights in their particular sector, but must ensure they do not impact a broad range of human rights contained in various "internationally recognized documents."
Academic: BHR Treaty Should Build on Environmental Precedent

July 16, 2015

Sara Seck of the Faculty of Law at Western University in Canada writes that the working group developing a binding business and human rights ("BHR") treaty should consider the past work of the International Law Commission concerning international environmental law, arguing that environmental harm is often closely tied to violations of human rights.
Academic Discusses Inclusion of Criminal Liability in BHR Treaty

July 15, 2015

At a recent conference in Madrid, Dr. Nadia Bernaz of Middlesex University School of Law explored the possibility of including provisions on the criminal liability of corporations for "international crimes" under a binding treaty on business and human rights ("BHR") currently under negotiation by an intergovernmental working group.
ICAR Outlines Preferred BHR Treaty Areas

July 15, 2015

The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable ("ICAR") has issued a series of submissions to the working group charged with developing a UN binding treaty on business and human rights ("BHR") issues, calling for the treaty to push the use of extraterritorial jurisdiction to prevent BHR violations and the insertion of due diligence provisions in financial regulations.
NGO: BHR Treaty Will Provide Enforcement Mechanism

July 15, 2015

Sam Cossar-Gilbert of Friends of the Earth International writes that a proposed binding business and human rights ("BHR") treaty, under negotiation by a UN working group in Geneva, would provide an international enforcement mechanism for people who allege they have suffered harm from corporate violations of the global BHR agenda.