"Corporate Legal Accountability Quarterly Bulletin - Issue 19, January 2016", 14 Jan 2016

Welcome to our Corporate Legal Accountability Quarterly Bulletin -- highlighting a specific topic each quarter, as well as key developments in corporate legal accountability.  The Corporate Legal Accountability hub on our website provides objective, concise information about lawsuits against companies in which human rights abuses are alleged...

Quarterly Highlight: Communities taking action...Communities...that are negatively affected by large infrastructure projects are increasingly turning to their national courts to protect their human rights – often pushing the courts to consider novel, ground-breaking claims to advance legal accountability for business-related human rights abuse...All too often, large infrastructure projects are planned and approved without adequate consultation with those communities who will be most affected, and subsequently those communities have nowhere to turn for remedy.  The Xayaburi case provides a valuable example for other vulnerable communities and their advocates to draw upon.  First, the case shows the importance of communities being legally empowered to protect their rights...Second, by taking legal action and pushing novel legal theories, communities should note that, while they may not always be successful, they do help develop a body of law paving the way for other communities to continue pushing for legal accountability.  These types of lawsuits will also have the capacity-building effect of educating judges, government officials and business people on their respective human rights obligations...