{"title":"Chiara Macchi, Business, Human Rights and the Environment: The Evolving Agenda (The Netherlands: TMC Asser Press, 2022), 201 pp.","authors":"Liliana Lizarazo-Rodríguez","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.28","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.28","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43560574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Since 2017, the government of the People’s Republic of China has heightened repression of Uyghur and other minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Repressive tactics involve family separations, mass incarceration, forced labour and cultural indoctrination. This has been accompanied, in recent years, with an aggressive industrialization of the area which relies heavily on the forced labour of Uyghur and other minorities. The automotive industry, in particular, has expanded into the region. This piece describes China’s push of heavy industry into XUAR and recent findings by Sheffield Hallam University and NomoGaia of abuses against Uyghurs and their links to the global automotive sector. It then explains the methodology employed by NomoGaia in its co-authored report with scholars from Sheffield Hallam University for linking abuses in the XUAR to global brands, and proposes a way forward for the industry.
{"title":"Automotive Supply Chain Links to the Uyghur Genocide: Reversing a Growing Crisis","authors":"Kendyl Salcito","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.15","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Since 2017, the government of the People’s Republic of China has heightened repression of Uyghur and other minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Repressive tactics involve family separations, mass incarceration, forced labour and cultural indoctrination. This has been accompanied, in recent years, with an aggressive industrialization of the area which relies heavily on the forced labour of Uyghur and other minorities. The automotive industry, in particular, has expanded into the region. This piece describes China’s push of heavy industry into XUAR and recent findings by Sheffield Hallam University and NomoGaia of abuses against Uyghurs and their links to the global automotive sector. It then explains the methodology employed by NomoGaia in its co-authored report with scholars from Sheffield Hallam University for linking abuses in the XUAR to global brands, and proposes a way forward for the industry.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45106553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization brought to the forefront the intersections between technology and reproductive rights. As the country grappled with the impact of Dobbs on reproductive rights, digital and human rights experts warned that the vast amounts of data collected by companies could now be used to target and punish people seeking or facilitating access to abortions. This is the most recent manifestation of the negative impact technology can have on women, girls and persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, and represents a global challenge for companies that collect, store, share and process user data. To fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights, companies should take steps to prevent the risks associated with collecting, storing, sharing and processing user data, and adapt these steps to respond to emerging risks, such as those now posed by the Dobbs decision.
{"title":"Protecting Reproductive Rights Post-Roe: Can Companies Keep Your Data Safe?","authors":"Meagan Barrera, Danny Rayman Labrin","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.16","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The United States Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization brought to the forefront the intersections between technology and reproductive rights. As the country grappled with the impact of Dobbs on reproductive rights, digital and human rights experts warned that the vast amounts of data collected by companies could now be used to target and punish people seeking or facilitating access to abortions. This is the most recent manifestation of the negative impact technology can have on women, girls and persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, and represents a global challenge for companies that collect, store, share and process user data. To fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights, companies should take steps to prevent the risks associated with collecting, storing, sharing and processing user data, and adapt these steps to respond to emerging risks, such as those now posed by the Dobbs decision.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41364252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The scale and scope of the climate crisis and its drastically worsening impacts means that even as a ‘climate due diligence’ obligation is increasingly taking shape as a dimension of human rights due diligence, there is also growing evidence of the limitations of this emerging norm. This article provides four critiques of climate due diligence based on its insufficiency, its conceptual ambiguity, its operational limitations, and its structural limitations. It argues that these critiques could be addressed by regulatory reform that draw clear ‘red lines’ based on the need to prevent the development of any new fossil fuel and address the ‘corporate capture’ of regulatory institutions by the fossil fuel industry. Additionally, it calls for reparations to ensure effective access to a remedy for existing and potential future climate-related human rights impacts that business has caused or contributed to.
{"title":"Beyond Climate Due Diligence: Fossil Fuels, ‘Red Lines’ and Reparations","authors":"J. Dehm","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.30","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.30","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The scale and scope of the climate crisis and its drastically worsening impacts means that even as a ‘climate due diligence’ obligation is increasingly taking shape as a dimension of human rights due diligence, there is also growing evidence of the limitations of this emerging norm. This article provides four critiques of climate due diligence based on its insufficiency, its conceptual ambiguity, its operational limitations, and its structural limitations. It argues that these critiques could be addressed by regulatory reform that draw clear ‘red lines’ based on the need to prevent the development of any new fossil fuel and address the ‘corporate capture’ of regulatory institutions by the fossil fuel industry. Additionally, it calls for reparations to ensure effective access to a remedy for existing and potential future climate-related human rights impacts that business has caused or contributed to.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47036554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This article argues that the trend to zoom into mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) as the sole solution to corporate abuse is misleading. In fact, it might risk missing entirely the main point which, as set out in this article, should be creating economic systems that enable rights-based and rights-driven business models. A small, but growing number of scholarly articles address the economic, fiscal and regulatory institutions needed to create an enabling environment for the fulfilment of human rights. These policy areas constitute what some of us understand as a ‘rights-based economy’ or ‘rights-enabling economies’. State-level efforts would be much more effective in promoting substantive equality if driven by a rights-based approach rather than a market logic. This article contends that while ensuring comprehensive mHRDD is in place as a preventative and mitigation tool, states must also push for transformative macroeconomic policies based on human rights principles as a way to fundamentally change business models.
{"title":"Beyond Buzzwords: Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence and a Rights-Based Approach to Business Models","authors":"Marianna Leite","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.11","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article argues that the trend to zoom into mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) as the sole solution to corporate abuse is misleading. In fact, it might risk missing entirely the main point which, as set out in this article, should be creating economic systems that enable rights-based and rights-driven business models. A small, but growing number of scholarly articles address the economic, fiscal and regulatory institutions needed to create an enabling environment for the fulfilment of human rights. These policy areas constitute what some of us understand as a ‘rights-based economy’ or ‘rights-enabling economies’. State-level efforts would be much more effective in promoting substantive equality if driven by a rights-based approach rather than a market logic. This article contends that while ensuring comprehensive mHRDD is in place as a preventative and mitigation tool, states must also push for transformative macroeconomic policies based on human rights principles as a way to fundamentally change business models.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41629656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The take-up of mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) initiatives by states is continuously gaining momentum. There are now numerous states adopting some form of HRDD laws. While corporations being duly diligent in respecting human rights is a positive step towards addressing problems of business and human rights, these HRDD initiatives on their own may only be a form of window-dressing, that is, enabling states to put a smart spin on their efforts to address business and human rights issues without addressing some of the root causes of that predicament. As a result, HRDD laws are likely to be a helpful, but insufficient tool for addressing corporate abuse of human rights. One reason for this is because the root cause of many business and human rights problems is the structural elements and goals of corporate law facilitates corporate violations of human rights. So long as states fail to transform the way in which corporations operate – in part, by reconceptualizing corporate law – even the best drafted HRDD laws will be inadequate to halt corporate harms.
{"title":"Corporate Law’s Threat to Human Rights: Why Human Rights Due Diligence Might Not Be Enough","authors":"B. Choudhury","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.29","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.29","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The take-up of mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) initiatives by states is continuously gaining momentum. There are now numerous states adopting some form of HRDD laws. While corporations being duly diligent in respecting human rights is a positive step towards addressing problems of business and human rights, these HRDD initiatives on their own may only be a form of window-dressing, that is, enabling states to put a smart spin on their efforts to address business and human rights issues without addressing some of the root causes of that predicament. As a result, HRDD laws are likely to be a helpful, but insufficient tool for addressing corporate abuse of human rights. One reason for this is because the root cause of many business and human rights problems is the structural elements and goals of corporate law facilitates corporate violations of human rights. So long as states fail to transform the way in which corporations operate – in part, by reconceptualizing corporate law – even the best drafted HRDD laws will be inadequate to halt corporate harms.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48441820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper analyses five constitutional developments in Central and Eastern Europe that can impact the domestic implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Using Czechia, Poland and Slovenia as examples, the paper highlights four potential drivers, namely: (1) the process of constitutionalizing human rights; (2) the proliferation of the doctrine of horizontal effect of constitutional rights; (3) the constitutional legitimacy of state intervention in the free market economy; and (4) the mechanism of judicial review. Furthermore, the author underlines the most significant challenge, which is increasing resistance to international norms in some countries, e.g., Poland. The paper concludes that the jurisprudence of the constitutional courts can facilitate the domestic implementation of the UNGPs, particularly Pillars I (State duty to protect human rights) and III (access to remedy).
{"title":"Business and Human Rights in Central and Eastern Europe: Constitutional Law as a Driver for the International Human Rights Law","authors":"Łukasz Szoszkiewicz","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.13","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.13","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper analyses five constitutional developments in Central and Eastern Europe that can impact the domestic implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Using Czechia, Poland and Slovenia as examples, the paper highlights four potential drivers, namely: (1) the process of constitutionalizing human rights; (2) the proliferation of the doctrine of horizontal effect of constitutional rights; (3) the constitutional legitimacy of state intervention in the free market economy; and (4) the mechanism of judicial review. Furthermore, the author underlines the most significant challenge, which is increasing resistance to international norms in some countries, e.g., Poland. The paper concludes that the jurisprudence of the constitutional courts can facilitate the domestic implementation of the UNGPs, particularly Pillars I (State duty to protect human rights) and III (access to remedy).","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41975281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Corporate power continues to grow and impact upon our livelihoods and the environment. Myriad concepts have been introduced to describe the prevention or mitigation of different types of corporate irresponsibility and harm – including accountability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability. Into this mix, Anna Aseeva introduces corporate social liability (CSL), an innovative lens to create strategic pathways to alleviate corporate harm. Aseeva centres her socio-legal analysis on the complex leviathan of global value chains (GVCs). GVCs have become the normalized method of production, and now account for over 70 per cent of global trade.1 The book’s thesis lies in the assertion that GVCs operate as ‘connectivity norms’ of global economic relations, which in turn generate systems of economically dependent but legally independent entities between head corporations and periphery firms.2 This dichotomy results in the corporation at the apex of any GVC remaining practically immune to liability. To tackle this immunity, Aseeva argues that international lawyers require new strategies. CSL covers ‘the extent to which head corporations can be held liable for harm, including that which arises out of acts and omissions by their economically dependent entities’.3 CSL contains constitutive elements of both corporate liability for the effects of GVC production and the corporate responsibility to re-distribute, which incorporates, amongst other issues, health and safety standards for workers, and environmental protections. Notably, Aseeva also alludes to CSL’s temporal and aspirational dimensions, operating between current formulations of corporate liability, and as a lens through which to see future systemic changes that will be necessary to transform the global political economy and society.4 The book is organized in four parts. Part I (chapters 1–2) introduces the book’s approach and methods, in addition to providing us with a contextual account of CSR and the proliferation of GVCs. Part II (chapters 3–4) analyses the regulation of corporate responsibility from national, post-national and international law perspectives. Part III (chapters 5–6) investigates recent legal routes to liability for head corporations in GVCs, and Part IV (chapters 7–9) sets out a systemic approach to whether and how CSL could be adopted. Chapter 1 details the CSL approach and situates the book in the socio-legal method through the complementary doctrinal analysis in English, French and US jurisdictions, and a
{"title":"Anna Aseeva, From Corporate Social Responsibility to Corporate Social Liability: A Socio‑Legal Study of Corporate Liability in Global Value Chains (Oxford: Hart, 2021), 244 pp","authors":"Marisa McVey","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.12","url":null,"abstract":"Corporate power continues to grow and impact upon our livelihoods and the environment. Myriad concepts have been introduced to describe the prevention or mitigation of different types of corporate irresponsibility and harm – including accountability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability. Into this mix, Anna Aseeva introduces corporate social liability (CSL), an innovative lens to create strategic pathways to alleviate corporate harm. Aseeva centres her socio-legal analysis on the complex leviathan of global value chains (GVCs). GVCs have become the normalized method of production, and now account for over 70 per cent of global trade.1 The book’s thesis lies in the assertion that GVCs operate as ‘connectivity norms’ of global economic relations, which in turn generate systems of economically dependent but legally independent entities between head corporations and periphery firms.2 This dichotomy results in the corporation at the apex of any GVC remaining practically immune to liability. To tackle this immunity, Aseeva argues that international lawyers require new strategies. CSL covers ‘the extent to which head corporations can be held liable for harm, including that which arises out of acts and omissions by their economically dependent entities’.3 CSL contains constitutive elements of both corporate liability for the effects of GVC production and the corporate responsibility to re-distribute, which incorporates, amongst other issues, health and safety standards for workers, and environmental protections. Notably, Aseeva also alludes to CSL’s temporal and aspirational dimensions, operating between current formulations of corporate liability, and as a lens through which to see future systemic changes that will be necessary to transform the global political economy and society.4 The book is organized in four parts. Part I (chapters 1–2) introduces the book’s approach and methods, in addition to providing us with a contextual account of CSR and the proliferation of GVCs. Part II (chapters 3–4) analyses the regulation of corporate responsibility from national, post-national and international law perspectives. Part III (chapters 5–6) investigates recent legal routes to liability for head corporations in GVCs, and Part IV (chapters 7–9) sets out a systemic approach to whether and how CSL could be adopted. Chapter 1 details the CSL approach and situates the book in the socio-legal method through the complementary doctrinal analysis in English, French and US jurisdictions, and a","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44773244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article discusses the relatively new phenomenon of corporate activism concerning the LGBT+ community in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. It highlights how companies use various forms of corporate activism to show support and solidarity with LGBT+ people, especially during Pride Month. The authors note that there is a need to understand how these actions are perceived by civil society organizations (CSOs) that support LGBT+ people. To address this issue, a qualitative study was conducted to gather the perceptions of 11 CSO representatives from different organizations on the activities undertaken by companies for LGBT+ groups. The study intended to explore whether CSOs identified the support provided by businesses as activities to protect human rights, which business activities were valued most by the LGBT+ community, and what business actions in the public sphere are expected.
{"title":"CSOs’ Perception of Corporate Activism on the LGBT+ Community in Poland","authors":"Agata Rudnicka, Janusz Reichel","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.14","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article discusses the relatively new phenomenon of corporate activism concerning the LGBT+ community in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland. It highlights how companies use various forms of corporate activism to show support and solidarity with LGBT+ people, especially during Pride Month. The authors note that there is a need to understand how these actions are perceived by civil society organizations (CSOs) that support LGBT+ people. To address this issue, a qualitative study was conducted to gather the perceptions of 11 CSO representatives from different organizations on the activities undertaken by companies for LGBT+ groups. The study intended to explore whether CSOs identified the support provided by businesses as activities to protect human rights, which business activities were valued most by the LGBT+ community, and what business actions in the public sphere are expected.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41720524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Brazil is a large exporter of commodities that supply global value chains. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in 2019 commodity exports entailed 8.4 per cent of Brazilian Gross Domestic Product.1 Although commodities exportation is important for the Brazilian economy, their production or extraction often causes human rights harms and environmental damages.
{"title":"Access to Remedies and Reparations: From Brazilian Practice to International Binding Standards","authors":"Thales Cavalcanti Coelho","doi":"10.1017/bhj.2023.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2023.7","url":null,"abstract":"Brazil is a large exporter of commodities that supply global value chains. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in 2019 commodity exports entailed 8.4 per cent of Brazilian Gross Domestic Product.1 Although commodities exportation is important for the Brazilian economy, their production or extraction often causes human rights harms and environmental damages.","PeriodicalId":9399,"journal":{"name":"Business and Human Rights Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45448917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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