The International Commission of Jurists supports the objective of establishing an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises, with a focus on business accountability and access to effective remedies for human rights abuses by business enterprises. There is a substantial international protection gap to be filled in this respect, on which the ICJ has previously commented extensively.  It is with a view to closing this gap and ensuring that international human rights law can optimally fulfil its protective function that the ICJ is engaging in the present treaty process.  This paper proposes a series of substantive elements that the ICJ considers will be key to an effective treaty as a contribution to the ongoing discussions about the future instrument.