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Article

15 Oct 2018

Author:
Makbule Sahan & Ruwan Subasinghe, Equal Times (India)

Let’s seize the opportunity to ensure a strong, international binding treaty on business and human rights

...[u]nions cautiously welcome the following key provisions of the Zero Draft:

  1. Coverage of international human rights law, including international labour standards
  2. Mutual legal assistance and international cooperation
  3. State obligation to adopt regulatory measures to:
  • Require businesses to adopt and apply human rights due diligence policies and procedures;
  • Ensure access to effective judicial recourse for victims of human rights violations...

However, in order to truly close the major gap that exists...it is imperative that the next draft of the Binding Treaty captures the following points:

  1. A re-statement of the business duty to respect human rights throughout their operations
  2. An explicit recognition of the primacy of human rights obligations over trade and investment agreements
  3. The need to overcome jurisdictional barriers by limiting the use of the doctrine of forum non conveniens
  4. Alignment of due diligence provisions with Pillar II of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to reduce some definitional and operational ambiguities
  5. The need for a strong international enforcement mechanism beyond the frameworks set out in the Zero Draft and the Optional Protocol...

Timeline