scholarly journals Outlining the Case for a Common Law Duty of Care of Business to Exercise Human Rights Due Diligence

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doug CASSEL
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Common Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
Duty Of Care ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
A Company ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

AbstractThis article outlines the case for a business duty of care to exercise human rights due diligence, judicially enforceable in common law countries by tort suits for negligence brought by persons whose potential injuries were reasonably foreseeable. A parent company’s duty of care would extend to the human rights impacts of all entities in the enterprise, including subsidiaries. A company would not be liable for breach of the duty of care if it proves that it reasonably exercised due diligence as set forth in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. On the other hand, a company’s failure to exercise due diligence would create a rebuttable presumption of causation and hence liability. A company could then avoid liability only by carrying its burden to prove that the risk of the human rights violations was not reasonably foreseeable, or that the damages would have resulted even if the company had exercised due diligence.

From a Stark Utopia to Everyday Utopias

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 575-606
Author(s):  
Michelle Staggs Kelsall
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Karl Polanyi ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Council ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

This article considers the emergence of the Business and Human Rights agenda at the United Nations (UN). It argues that the agenda can be seen as an example of the UN Human Rights Council attempting to institutionalise everyday utopias within an emerging global public domain. Utilising the concept of embedded pragmatism and tracing the underlying rationale for the emergence of the agenda to the work of Karl Polanyi, the article argues that the Business and Human Rights agenda seeks to institutionalise human rights due diligence processes within transnational corporations in order to create a pragmatic alternative to the stark utopia of laissez-faire liberal markets. It then provides an analytical account of the implications of human rights due diligence for the modes and techniques business utilises to assess human rights harm. It argues that due to the constraints imposed by the concept of embedded pragmatism and the normative indeterminacy of human rights, the Business and Human Rights agenda risks instituting human rights within the corporation through modes and techniques that maintain human rights as a language of crisis, rather than creating the space for novel, everyday utopias to emerge.

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 PROBLEMATIKA INDEPENDENSI KOMISI KEBENARAN DAN REKONSILIASI ACEH

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahlul Pasha
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Indonesian Government ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Free Aceh Movement ◽  
Election Commission

ABSTRACTAfter signing the MoU between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement, a lot of interesting dynamics going on in Aceh, which is the Qanun KKR Aceh. As an independent agency, the Aceh TRC duty to disclose the truth on the alleged past human rights violations in Aceh. This paper examines the nature of the independence of Aceh TRC is based on theoretical characteristics of an independent institution. Based on the results of the study found that the Aceh TRC has a number of independent properties include: an odd number of members, the independent election commission members, the election and dismissal of members of the commission are closely regulated and has the authority to regulate themselves (self-regulated bodies). However, on the other hand also found two other things that escape is set regarding the nature of the independence of Aceh TRC is concerning institutional decision-making procedures and functions of the commission as well as regarding filling positions that are not members of the commission be gradual (staggered terms) but simultaneously. Keywords: Independency, Komisi Kebenaran dan Rekonsiliasi Aceh. INTISARIPasca penandatanganan MoU Helsinki antara Pemerintah Indonesia dengan GerakanAceh Merdeka, banyak dinamika menarik yang terjadi di Aceh, salah satunyaadalah pengesahan Qanun KKR Aceh. Sebagai lembaga independen, KKR Aceh bertugas mengungkap kebenaran atas dugaan pelanggaran HAM berat masa lalu di Aceh. Tulisan ini berusaha mengkaji sifat independensi KKR Aceh berdasarkan ciri teroritik suatu lembaga independen. Berdasarkan hasil kajian ditemukan bahwa KKR Aceh memiliki sejumlah sifat independenmeliputi: jumlah anggota yang ganjil, proses pemilihan anggota komisi yang independen, pemilihan dan pemberhentian anggota komisi diatur jelas serta memiliki kewenangan untuk mengatur dirinya sendiri (self regulated bodies). Namun, di sisi lain juga ditemukan dua hal lain yang luput diatur berkenaan sifat independensi KKR Aceh, yaitu menyangkut prosedur pengambilan keputusan kelembagaan dan fungsi komisi serta perihal pengisian jabatan anggota komisi yang tidak dilakukan secara bertahap(staggered terms) melainkan bersamaan. Kata Kunci: Independensi, Komisi Kebenaran dan Rekonsiliasi Aceh.

scholarly journals Gender Component of Internal Displacement in Ukraine: A Case of Business (In)Capability to Localize Human Rights Impact Assessment

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Ganna Khrystova ◽  
Olena Uvarova
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Critical Step ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Impact Assessment ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

Human rights due diligence (HRDD) has become the buzzword of much of the advocacy and work today around business and human rights.1 It is almost commonplace that companies have the responsibility to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address these adverse human rights impacts as part of their ongoing HRDD processes, in line with the UNGPs.2 The assessment of human rights impacts (HRIA) is a critical step in this process.3

scholarly journals Vedanta Resources Plc and Another v. Lungowe and Others

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Tara Van Ho
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Duty Of Care ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Copper Mines ◽  
Public Disclosures ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Right ◽  
Parent Companies ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

In Vedanta v. Lungowe, the United Kingdom Supreme Court determined that civil claims for negligence brought by Zambian claimants against an English parent company (Vedanta) and its Zambian subsidiary (Konkola Copper Mines plc (KCM)) for damages experienced in Zambia can proceed in English courts. While framed as a domestic tort law case, the decision is significant for international efforts aimed at holding businesses accountable for their “negative impacts” on human rights. Writing for a unanimous Court, Lord Briggs's judgment hinged narrowly on the right of victims to access substantial justice. More broadly, Lord Briggs suggested that parent companies that hold themselves out in public disclosures as overseeing the human rights, environmental, social, or labor standards employed by their subsidiaries assume a duty of care to those harmed by the subsidiary. This suggestion has the potential to transform current corporate approaches to human rights due diligence and accountability.

5. Human Rights in Comparative Politics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Cardenas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
International Linkages ◽  
Domestic Level

This chapter examines the importance of comparative politics for understanding human rights practices. Comparative politics has advanced our knowledge of why states sometimes violate internationally recognized human rights. Both domestic incentives and exclusionary ideologies increase the likelihood of rights violations. On the other hand, comparative politics has attempted to explain human rights protection, showing how domestic structures (both societal groups and state institutions) can influence reform efforts. This chapter first consider alternative logics of comparison, including the merits of comparing a small versus a large number of cases and human rights within or across regions. It then explores the leading domestic-level explanations for why human rights violations occur. It also describes the use of domestic–international linkages to explain otherwise perplexing human rights outcomes. Finally, it analyses the ways in which, in the context of globalization, comparative politics shapes human rights practices.

scholarly journals Human Rights Due Diligence as Risk Management: Social Risk Versus Human Rights Risk

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn FASTERLING
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Risk Identification ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Risk Management Process ◽  
Process Risk ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

AbstractThe UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights endorse a risk management perspective of human rights due diligence, which may create ambiguities with regard to the nature of risk and the objectives of risk management. By ‘human rights risk’ we understand a business enterprise’s potential adverse human rights impacts. Human rights risk can be contrasted to an enterprise’s ‘social risk’ which refers to the actual and potential leverage that people or groups of people with a negative perception of corporate activity have on the business enterprise’s value.This article puts forward the argument that due diligence in respect of human rights risk is conceptually incompatible with the management of social risk, because social risk management and human rights due diligence vary at each step of the risk management process (risk identification, risk measurement and assessment, risk reduction measures). To resolve this incompatibility, an effective integration of human rights due diligence processes into corporate risk management systems would require an elevation of human rights respect to a corporate goal that determines corporate strategy.

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