
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) along with the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) launched a report by International Experts on Business and Human Rights, entitled “Human Rights Due Diligence: the Role of States”. The International Experts commissioned included Professor Olivier De Schutter, Professor Anita Ramasastry, Mark B. Taylor and Robert C. Thompson.
The Report builds off of a set of global Consultations with legal practitioners, academics and experts from around the world and examines how States are using their regulatory authority to mandate due diligence for human rights or areas akin to human rights, such as environmental protection and workplace health and safety. The Report seeks to establish the extent to which the legal systems of States already make use of due diligence to ensure that businesses respect established standards and to describe for policymakers a range of regulatory options they might use to take the next steps in ensuring businesses respect human rights.
Drawing on State practice and international standards, the Report finds the following:
“This Report is based on vast consultation with a global set of respondents, and provides strong evidence for the need for legal requirements on business entities to conduct human rights due diligence. We urge Governments to carefully consider the findings and work to ensure that their duty to protect human rights includes requirements over business actors to conduct due diligence related to human rights,”
“The fact that our coalitions have come together around this Report evidences the critical nature of the issue of human rights due diligence, and its potential value in ensuring that business respect human rights,” added Filip Gregor, Board Member of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice.
The launch of the Report will take place in conjunction with the Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, scheduled for December, 2012. ICAR, ECCJ AND CNCA will host a discussion with the Authors alongside a Keynote Address by Member of the European Parliament Richard Howitt from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm on December 3rd, 2012 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
Contacts
Amol Mehra International Corporate Accountability Roundtable amol@accountabilityroundtable.org
Filip Gregor European Coalition for Corporate Justice filip.
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