Business & Human Rights

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.