On October 28, 2020, third day of the 6th session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations, stakeholders discussed Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the second revised UN draft treaty on business and human rights.
Read moreAuthor: Neïla Mangin Maïza
Summary of the consultations on the UN draft treaty on business & human rights (day 2)
On October 27, 2020, second day of the 6th session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations, stakeholders discussed Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the second revised UN draft treaty on business and human rights.
Read moreSummary of the consultations on the UN draft treaty on business & human rights (day 1)
On October 26, 2020, the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations (OEIGWG) begun its 6th session which will take place until October 30, 2020 to discuss the second revised UN draft treaty on business and human rights.
On the first day, stakeholders presented their general statements on the draft treaty and amendments to the preamble, Articles 1 and 2.
Read moreFirst draft on EU mandatory human rights due diligence out
See update on the EU Parliament draft Directive adopted on March 10, 2021.
On September 2020, the EU Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs published a draft report containing a text of proposed Directive on mandatory human rights due diligence and recommendations to the EU Commission.
According to an EU Commission study, currently, only 37% of business respondents conduct environmental and human rights due diligence and only 16% cover the entire supply chain.
Read moreCalling for the boycott of Israeli products falls within freedom expression says the ECtHR
On June 11, 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that France violated Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention in the Baldassi and Others v. France case (in French) by convicting activists with criminal charges for incitement to economic discrimination, on account of their participation in actions aimed at boycotting products imported from Israel as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Read moreTrump administration against corporate liability for human rights violations under Alien Tort Statute
On May 26, 2020, the Trump administration filed a brief amicus curiae in the Cargill Inc. v John Doe case, urging the Supreme Court to hold that domestic corporations cannot be liable for human rights violations under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS).
In this case, former child slaves who were forced to work on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast claim that Nestle US and Cargill aided and abetted slave labour by providing financial support and technical farming aid to famers, subjecting defendants to suit under the ATS.
Read moreTowards EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence for business
Investors’ call to enforce mandatory human rights due diligence
On April 21, 2020, a group of 101 international investors representing US$5 trillion in assets under management have, in a common statement, called on “all governments to develop, implement, and enforce mandatory human rights due diligence requirements for companies headquartered or operating within their own jurisdictions”.
Read moreInternal security as such can’t justify the refusal to host asylum-seekers says the ECJ
On April 2, 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled, in the infringement proceedings initiated by the European Commission that, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic failed to comply with their obligations under Articles 5§2-4-11 of both Council Decision 2015/1523 and Council Decision 2015/1601 by refusing to host asylum-seekers who arrived in Italy and Greece between 2015 and 2017.
Read moreICC Afghan case: Pre-Trial Chamber erred in law by refusing to open an investigation says the Appeals Chamber
On March 5 2020, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorised the Prosecutor to commence an investigation in relation to the alleged crimes committed in the context of the armed conflict in Afghanistan since 1 May 2003, reversing the Pre-Trial Chamber’s highly controversial decision to refuse the opening of such investigation based on the lack of interests of justice.
By judging that the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) erred in law, the Appeals Chamber salvaged the ICC’s credibility, which had been questioned due to the non-legal arguments used by the PTC to justify the refusal to open an investigation.
Read more