A legal blog discussing developments in the business & human rights area (as well as few other things)
On March 10, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution submitting to the Commission and Council a draft Directive on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability.
While the draft Directive incorporates certain elements proposed in September by the Committee on Legal Affairs, others have been left out such as the constitution of criminal offense in case of intentional repeated infringements.
Read moreOn March 10, 2021, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales found in the Begun v Maran case that the claim for damages brought by the widow of a shipbreaking worker killed while working on an oil tanker in a shipyard in Bangladesh against shipping company Maran was not bound to fail as Maran UK may had owed a duty of care to the deceased worker. Considering that most oil tankers are broken up in Bangladesh, this may have important consequences across the shipping industry.
Read moreHard times for Shell. On 12 February 2021, two weeks after the Court of Appeal of The Hague found Shell subsidiary and parent company liable for oil spills in Nigeria in a landmark ruling, the UK Supreme Court, in a much awaited ruling, confirmed that proceedings against the parent company could continue before UK courts for similar issues raised by Nigerian farming and fishing communities, as real issues were to be tried.
Read moreOn 5 February 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that the court’s territorial jurisdiction extends to the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in June 1967, namely the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza. This decision follows the Prosecutor’s request for a ruling on the court’s territorial jurisdiction in Palestine to confirm her ability to investigate alleged crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory since June 13, 2014.
Read moreOn January 29, 2021, the Court of Appeals of The Hague found in two judgements (cases A and B and cases C and D in Dutch) Shell Nigeria (SPDC) and its parent company Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) responsible for oil spills in the Niger Delta in Nigeria.
Read moreOn December 22, 2020, the Norwegian Supreme Court dealt a hard blow to the fight against climate change. The Court confirmed (in Norwegian) the validity of a 2016 royal decree granting ten production licences in the Barents Sea, dismissing the claims that drilling activities violate the right to a clean environment enshrined under Article 112 of the Constitution and the right to life and the right to privacy, family life and home protected under Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Read moreOn December 7, 2020, the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation 2020/1998 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses.
Read moreOctober 30, 2020, marked the end of the 6th session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations (OEIGWG) and the discussions on the second revised UN draft treaty on business and human rights.
Read moreOn October 29, 2020, fourth day of the 6th session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations, stakeholders discussed Articles 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the second revised UN draft treaty on business and human rights.
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