Impact of environmental, social and governance agenda on tax
A new wave of mandatory human rights due diligence legislation is coming into force across Europe. It goes far beyond existing reporting obligations, such as under the UK or Australia’s Modern Slavery Acts, and will require...more
Since it was established in 2014, a United Nations Inter-Governmental Working Group (“IGWG”) has met annually to develop a multilateral treaty to attempt to hold businesses legally accountable for harms that may be related to...more
Last week marked the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which seeks to provide "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations". ...more
The concept of human rights due diligence is at the heart of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UNGPs“) and is finding its way into a growing body of legislation around the world...more
As part of the HLBaSE programme, Peter Hood from our Business and Human Rights (BHR) team mentored a group of lawyers advising tech start up RightsDD on the definitions of slavery and trafficking for their risk management...more
The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (“CHRB”) has released its 2018 research methodology, reflecting revisions to the 2016 methodology used to produce CHRB’s 2017 inaugural benchmarking report....more
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: a revised Toolkit on National Action Plans on business and human...more
Proposals are being considered to amend the Swiss constitution to require mandatory human rights due diligence for companies based in Switzerland. This post considers the contents of the amendment, its progress and what Swiss...more
This week, the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva brought together representatives of business, government and civil society for three days of open, frank and constructive dialogue. ...more
An ongoing debate exists regarding the nature and extent to which transnational companies should be held directly and legally liable for human rights impacts. Much of this debate has involved calls for additional regulation...more
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 a number of new guidance documents and tools, including materials...more
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: a new report from the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human...more
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: a new report on the state of corporate human rights reporting; the...more
Courts in California and Canada have emerged as testing grounds for advancing claims of forced labor in global supply chains. The plaintiffs’ approach is to make companies more accountable to “soft law” norms like the UN...more
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: IHRB’s annual list of the Top 10 business and human rights issues...more
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: a new guide for business lawyers from the International Bar...more
Five years ago, on June 16, 2011, the way we view the human rights responsibilities of companies changed. On that day, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and...more
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 private and public initiatives on recruitment fees, including...more
Recent class actions have claimed that companies have violated California consumer fraud and unfair competition laws resulting from alleged forced labor in their global supply chains. These state law claims argue that...more
Non-Canadian workers are increasingly suing their employers in Canadian courts for human rights violations allegedly committed outside Canada by the companies themselves or by other entities in their supply chains. This...more
At the conclusion of the G7 Summit held on June 7 and 8, the assembled leaders released a declaration endorsing the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Specifically, leaders of the United States, the United...more