"Contribution to the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human right", October 2020.

Human Rights violations remain widespread in the global economy...And in most cases, affected people are denied their right to legal remedy and redress in their own countries, as well as in the very States where these transnational corporations operate from.

In response to this situation, and inspired by the call of Pope Francis, more than 230 Bishops worldwide signed an international declaration to stop corporate abuse and to guarantee global solidarity...In this context, CIDSE welcomes the second revised draft...We welcome the consistency of the draft with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) by requiring human rights due diligence from all business enterprises in their activities and business relationships along the whole value chain...

On the other hand, the next sections will expand on the areas where we still see room for improvement. Namely, with respect to civil liability, we emphasize the need to reverse the burden of proof on a mandatory basis in order to guarantee access to remedy for the affected people in the context of strong power information imbalances. We recommend to explicitly include environmental rights and due diligence requirements with administrative sanctions in cases of abuses. We recommend including specific measures to ensure trade and investment agreements do not undermine States’ capacity to respect, protect and fulfil human rights in their territory and abroad. And we recommend strengthening institutional arrangements to monitor and implement the Legally Binding Instrument....