It’s Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring.
This week’s post includes: new insights into the proposed Australia Modern Slavery Act; a new Withhold Release Order prohibiting the import of products produced with Turkmenistan cotton; and the launch of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights.
The protection of a company’s investments abroad could soon be linked to that company’s compliance with its CSR obligations. This is what the new Dutch draft model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) heralds. If other countries adopt the Netherlands’ approach, then international arbitration tribunals hearing claims that investors bring against foreign governments may also scrutinize the investors’ CSR track record.
CSR obligations are most relevant to the compensation a tribunal can award the investor.… More
Between November 27-29, over 2,000 delegates gathered in Geneva to attend the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights. The central theme of this year’s Forum was “Realizing Access to Effective Remedy,” which is the third Pillar of the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“U.N. Guiding Principles”).
A Working Group of specialists on international law, human rights, and conflict management have suggested one potential approach to strengthening the third Pillar,… More