Browsing by Subject "Business and Human Rights"
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(2020)Holding multinational corporations (MNCs) accountable for the extraterritorial human rights violations they commit has long been problematic and the skewed power relations between MNCs and individuals (or groups of individuals) are not diminishing – quite the opposite. It is undisputed that the victims of corporate human rights violations face vast obstacles when seeking to realize their right to access to effective remedy. The authoritative United Nations Guiding Principles’ Third Pillar upholds a duty for states to provide access to remedy for victims of human rights violations. This entails that states have an obligation to establish mechanisms in order to hold MNCs judicially liable and should further remove legal, practical and other barriers for action against MNCs. In 2015, 1,826 Zambian citizens from the Chingola District filed suit in the UK after their health and farming activities were damaged by repeated discharges of toxic waste into watercourses used for drinking and irrigation of crops. The toxic discharges allegedly originated from the Nchanga Copper Mine owned by Konkola Copper Mines PLC, a subsidiary of the UK parent company Vedanta Resources PLC. In 2019 the UK Supreme Court gave its unanimous landmark ruling in favour of the Zambian citizens in Vedanta v Lungowe. This case serves as the backbone of this thesis and works as a spearhead into foreign direct liability and the direct duty of care. This master’s thesis set out to answer two main questions. Firstly, within the frame of Vedanta v Lungowe, the task of this thesis is to identify some of the most central legal and practical barriers that victims of corporate human rights violations are faced with when setting on the quest to access judicial remedy. Secondly, the aim is to recognize what the implications of Vedanta v Lungowe could be in a broader context of international law and for the future of foreign direct liability cases. The thesis further introduces some regulatory proposals, such as a state duty to adopt mandatory HRDD practices for parent companies, which would make the responsibilities for MNCs clearer, while also protecting victims of corporate human rights violations and enabling better access to judicial remedy by the removal of some of the central barriers.
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(2021)As transnational corporations have emerged as some of the most prominent actors within the international system, there have been several attempts to approach them through international legal and normative instruments during the past 50 years. Despite this, there is no established system by which corporate actors can be held directly accountable for human rights abuse under international law. Accessing domestic remedies for human rights abuse by transnational corporations remains a challenge as the abuse often occur in regions where fair and effective court proceedings are unavailable. Extraterritorial court proceedings, on the other hand, entail several practical and legal barriers to the access to remedy, causing a general lack of final court rulings in the field. Against this background, international arbitration has been proposed as an accessible and effective method for the resolution of disputes which concern corporate activities and human rights. In December 2019, the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration were launched with the intent of facilitating arbitration of disputes in this context. The aim of arbitration under the Hague Rules is to provide those affected by adverse human rights impacts of businesses with the possibility of a remedy and to provide businesses with a mechanism for addressing their adverse human rights impacts. The aim of the study is to examine the potential of international arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution method for cases concerning adverse human rights impacts by transnational corporations. As the underlying issues which give rise to the need for a non-Statebased grievance mechanism, the thesis addresses the limited international legal framework applicable to corporate actors and the barriers to remedy that victims may face in human rights litigation against transnational corporations. Acknowledging that arbitration is not meant as a general substitute for Statebased redress mechanisms, the thesis finds that international arbitration under specialized procedural rules can provide several advantageous features that improve the access to remedy for victims of human rights abuse by transnational corporations. However, the availability and effectiveness of arbitration in this context is dependent on additional mechanisms to be established on the initiative of states, businesses or international institutions. The thesis concludes that business and human rights arbitration is a well-motivated option to be developed further.
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