abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

這頁面沒有繁體中文版本,現以English顯示

評論文章

2022年3月14日

作者:
Wilmien Wicomb, Legal Resources Centre

Lawyers’ insights on corporate legal accountability: Wilmien Wicomb, Legal Resources Centre, So. Africa

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

1. What are the biggest challenges you face in your corporate legal accountability work?

One of the biggest challenges is that our clients—affected communities—are rural communities with very little access to electricity, transport, and means of communication. It is therefore very difficult to get information quickly, but that makes it even more important to ensure that information is regularly distributed in the community. People live far from each other, so having regular large community gatherings is expensive and time consuming. This means that there is always the threat of the government or corporations dividing the community. We always want to take care that when we say we are representing “a community”, that that is correct. There is thus always a need for fieldworkers, local advice offices, and CBOs to be further resourced to provide critical support to communities.

A second big challenge is the clear collusion between the government, that acts as a regulator, and corporations. Our Minister of Minerals and Energy, Minister Gwede Mantashe, has come out clearly in favour of coal, oil, and gas extraction in South Africa and therefore can in no way be seen as an objective regulator. This does not only mean that internal statutory remedies are largely meaningless, but also that the State joins corporations in defending cases and, when we are successful, it is more difficult to have judgments implemented.

2. What key opportunities do you see for promoting corporate legal accountability (at the national, regional or international levels)?

I think the global movement against fossil fuels is changing the social acceptability of corporations doing anything in pursuit of profit. That, in turn, has an impact on the judiciary. I have always believed that the law on its own cannot change the world. It must be accompanied by a change in public perception around the acceptability of certain behaviours. I think we are seeing that shift happening in the perception of the general public. That inevitably impacts the judiciary. For example, judges have traditionally been very unwilling to make orders against corporations that will see them suffer huge financial losses or that will prejudice so-called “economic development” in favour of protecting the rights of vulnerable people. That is changing, as we saw in the interim interdict granted against Shell in South Africa in December 2021.

I also think that the broad recognition of the concept of free, prior, and informed consent globally, regionally, and nationally is very significant. Ten years ago, the concept as a legal standard was only widely used in international law related to indigenous peoples. It is today part of the tools of local communities everywhere not only to assert in courts but as an advocacy tool. In South Africa we have seen the very successful “Right to Say No” campaign.

3. What key lesson(s) have you learned in your efforts to advance corporate legal accountability?

The “Right to Say No” campaign mentioned above was born out of support for litigation but its momentum has continued far beyond litigation. There are very significant opportunities in mobilising around court cases in a way that not only strengthens the case, but builds momentum for sustainable action beyond the court case.

Litigation without mobilisation has much less impact.

隱私資訊

本網站使用 cookie 和其他網絡存儲技術。您可以在下方設置您的隱私選項。您所作的更改將立即生效。

有關我們使用網絡儲存技術的更多資訊,請參閱我們的 數據使用和 Cookie 政策

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

分析cookie

ON
OFF

您瀏覽本網頁時我們將以Google Analytics收集信息。接受此cookie將有助我們理解您的瀏覽資訊,並協助我們改善呈現資訊的方法。所有分析資訊都以匿名方式收集,我們並不能用相關資訊得到您的個人信息。谷歌在所有主要瀏覽器中都提供退出Google Analytics的添加應用程式。

市場營銷cookies

ON
OFF

我們從第三方網站獲得企業責任資訊,當中包括社交媒體和搜尋引擎。這些cookie協助我們理解相關瀏覽數據。

您在此網站上的隱私選項

本網站使用 cookie 和其他網絡儲存技術來增強您在必要核心功能之外的體驗。