Human Rights Insights

First 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.

Calling 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.

Trump 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.

States call for protecting sexual and reproductive rights and promoting gender-responsiveness in the COVID-19 crisis

On May 6, 2020, 38 Ministers issued a joint statement on behalf of 59 governments globally calling for protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights and promoting gender-responsiveness in the current Covid-19 pandemic.

General lockdowns globally not only have impacts on economies, but also on girls and women’s fundamental rights. As reported by UN Women in its Policy Brief on the impacts of Covid-19 on women, the pandemic’s consequences are exacerbated for girls and women, and notably regarding their right to health.

Towards EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence for business

On April 29, 2020, Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders announced that the European Commission will, in 2021, introduce a legislative initiative on due diligence for companies.

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”.

Internal 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.

Major step forward for children’s right to education in Zimbabwe

On March 6, 2020, the Education Amendment Act entered into force, guaranteeing a better access to education, notably for girls and children with disabilities, as well as prohibiting corporal punishments in Zimbabwe.

The Amendment complies with some of the urging recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its 2016 concluding observations, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its 2020 concluding observations.

ICC 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.

Landmark ruling: Canadian corporations may be held liable for breaches of international human rights law says the Supreme Court!

On February 28, 2020, the Canadian Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the Araya v. Nevsun Resources Ltd case, dismissing Nevsun’s motion to strike, considering that “it is not plain and obvious that corporations today enjoy a blanket exclusion under customary international law from direct liability for violations of obligatory, definable, and universal norms of international law”.