Business and Human Rights: Complaint Mechanisms

In recent years companies have been facing increased scrutiny of their human rights conduct. However, international human rights law has been traditionally state-based and provides therefore yet complicated and often dissatisfying judicial ways of conflict resolution between companies and victims of human rights violations. In practice this leads to a serious governance gap which entails that many corporate human rights violations go without redress or remedy. The aim of the proposed research is to address this gap and to explore the potential role of extrajudicial complaint mechanisms on human rights protection in the business context. Their impact will be critically assessed from both the victim`s and the company`s perspective and. The research questions will focus on three main areas, firstly on the strengths and weaknesses of extrajudicial complaints mechanisms as well as on their gaps, secondly on their impact on human rights protection and thirdly on the identification of crucial criteria to ensure sustainable human rights protection. The study will compare three categories of complaint mechanisms: mechanisms set up by international institutions (OECD and World Bank Group); company based mechanisms; and mechanisms set up by multi-stakeholder initiatives. The primary target groups for the project results and recommendations are human rights victims as well as companies that intend to establish human rights compatible complaint mechanisms. With regard to recommendations for the improvement of their procedures the OECD and the World Bank can equally be seen as a target group. The final outcome of this project will serve two major purposes: It will guide human rights victims and companies on the effectiveness of renowned international and corporate mechanisms for addressing human rights grievances, and it will yield "criteria of excellence" for extrajudicial mechanisms that will enhance harmonisation of existing mechanisms and support companies in establishing their own internal ones. The first outcome will contribute to increased awareness of victims on their access to remedies as well as on the costs and conditions of these procedures. Companies on the other hand will have the opportunity to learn more about extrajudicial dispute settlement and to exchange best practices and experiences in peer group events. The "criteria of excellence" will provide concrete guidelines for companies on how to best establish extrajudicial human rights compliant mechanisms. In view of the its impact, this study will feed into the current international debate on business and human rights, and build on the UN framework as to make a highly innovative and important contribution to the regulation of business activities and improvement of extrajudicial means of access to justice for victims of corporate human rights violations.

Business and Human Rights: Complaint Mechanisms is a three year research project funded by the FWF, that intensively focused on the effectiveness of extrajudicial complaint mechanisms in matters of human rights violations by business activities. The analysis concentrated on nine selected mechanisms on international, multi-stakeholder and the business level. Balancing human rights and corporate interests can be often problematic. The international human rights system is traditionally State-based. It provides legal remedies for conflict resolution, however, these are usually lengthy, complex and often unsatisfactory. In consequence, there exists a gap in legal protection or redress for victims of corporate human rights violations. Hence, the researchers raised the question in how far extrajudicial complaint mechanisms allow for resolving such a conflict in the best interest of all parties concerned. Aim of the study was to examine potential extrajudicial solutions, based on concrete mechanisms and especially an analysis of hereby resolved cases, to then inform companies and those affected by their operations about the effectiveness of these tools and the handling of human rights complaints. Case analysis and interviews with selected experts and practitioners provided concrete guidance and recommendations, how such mechanisms ideally could be designed. The results of the research confirmed the effectiveness criteria elaborated in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, but brought to light a number of other criteria, that complete the above mentioned UN criteria. The study describes these as criteria of excellence. They include, for instance, the request that the mechanism handles all human rights violations and leads to a solution, which might comprise that the conflict has to be solved by taking the proper legal course. The mechanism should not only take measures against the symptoms but resolve the underlying structural problems. It should be independent, take the local context into account and it should not just offer financial compensation. Additionally, a successful mechanism is characterized by the inclusion of all parties in the proceedings and the execution of such with integrity and in good faith. The implementation of the mutually approved agreement constitutes a great challenge which, however, could be solved in a constructive manner by some of the analysed mechanisms.