The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises were viewed at their genesis as political commitments not legally binding on states and only voluntary for corporations. Due to the OECD Council ...Decision on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in 2000/2011, however, OECD Member States are compelled to implement this regime by the establishment and operation of a National Contact Point (NCP) as a state-based, non-judicial, dispute resolution mechanism to handle complaints concerning corporations operating from or within their respective jurisdictions. This paper does not analyse weaknesses in the often-troubled NCP system nor does it propose reforms. Rather, it examines the current system from the legal perspective of OECD Member States and explores the relatively ignored extent of their obligations under it. This paper posits that on account of the Council Decision, treaty-derived, international obligations are in fact imposed on OECD Member States under the NCP system and that NCP maladministration can lead to state responsibility at international law. In any event, however, it seems clear that there does not exist any review mechanism-domestically or internationally-capable of attributing internationally wrongful conduct to an OECD Member State on account of its NCP. Keywords: OECD, Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, National Contact Point, international obligations, state responsibility, judicial review
Natural resources in Africa have increasingly become a cause for concern. Not only do natural resources and the extractive industry need to be wary of conflicts which arise from their production ...processes, but the need for regulation becomes crucial. As one of the biggest producers of copper in the world, Zambia announced its decision to suspend the renewal of copper mining licences, and so the need for regulation of the industry became more important. Consequently, there is a need to examine the immediate effect of copper mining. Ultimately, the need to examine the possibility of regulating the copper industry which may have lessons in other extractive industries is proactively equally important. Thus, this article discusses the Zambian Copperbelt, copper mining in and its impact for Zambia as a case study to illustrate the need for an international regulatory framework. Finally, the article examines best practices which have been utilised in the diamond industry in the hopes of using these best practices in the copper mining industry.
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In his important new book National responsibility and global justice, David Miller presents a systematic challenge to existing theories of global justice. In particular, he argues that cosmopolitan ...egalitarianism must be rejected. Such views, Miller maintains, would place unacceptable burdens on the most productive political communities, undermine national self-determination, and disincentivize political communities from taking responsibility for their fate. They are also impracticable and quite unrealistic, at least under present conditions. Miller offers an alternative account that conceives global justice in terms of a minimum set of basic rights that belong to human beings everywhere. Primary responsibility for securing such rights for an individual lies with his or her state, but in so far as these rights go unprotected, responsibilities for fulfilling them may fall on outsiders. While less ambitious that cosmopolitan egalitarian justice, Miller argues that his own view would nevertheless enable us to articulate what is most morally objectionable about our current world. In this article it is argued that none of Miller's critiques of cosmopolitan egalitarianism is effective, and that while certainly preferable to the status quo, a world governed by Miller's principles is not an attractive ideal.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, INZLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Human rights due diligence (HRDD) is an important new concept in international efforts to improve the accountability of transnational corporations for violations of human rights. Due diligence has a ...clear meaning in corporate governance, setting out context-specific risk-management obligations for corporations.1 It also has been applied in a variety of contexts in international law, including international human rights law, to define the scope of state responsibility for the acts of non-state actors.2 HRDD applies international human rights standards to the acts of businesses in the international sphere.3 It is designed to provide guidance to corporations on how to avoid adverse impacts of business on human rights and how to remedy such adverse impacts.4HRDD was first described in detail in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (GP),5 adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011.6 At the same time, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was in the process of revising its Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises (MNE Guidelines) and incorporated the GP's approach to HRDD in the new human rights chapter of the MNE Guidelines.7 The OECD also adopted a model of due diligence similar to the GP's as a general policy in the MNE Guidelines.8The OECD has subsequently used the HRDD concept in developing sector-specific guidance for mining businesses in conflict and high-risk zones (OECD Guidance)9; in drafting this guidance, the OECD has further advanced the HRDD concept. The OECD has thereby contributed to a better understanding of HRDD and to its legitimacy as an international measure for improving business accountability.This Article begins in Part I with a review of the concept of due diligence in international law, examining its role in areas such as diplomatic protection, international environmental law, and human rights. Part II then examines how the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie, elaborated the concept of HRDD within the United Nations; it also examines how the OECD adopted HRDD. Part III focuses on how the OECD applied HRDD to international efforts to remove conflict minerals from supply chains, and Part IV discusses how the OECD model of HRDD for conflict minerals interacts with regulation under the Dodd-Frank Act. Part V elaborates on the implementation of these HRDD measures by the OECD. Finally, Part VI looks ahead to the OECD's work in applying HRDD to other sectors, notably financial services and manufacturing.
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CEKLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, PRFLJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Where do Chinese villagers lay the blame when they develop cancer? The focus falls on the state when the supposed cause is water pollution; on the family context when it is hard work; and on the ...market when farm chemicals contaminate food. These different cancer aetiologies define the contours of a biological citizenship which does not only operate in relation to the state or premised on ‘scientific’ or biomedical evidence, but also on the basis of competing parameters of wellbeing and welfare drawing on personal and social experiences of work and eating. With data from fieldwork in rural Sichuan, this article illustrates that disputes about cancer causality and attitudes towards farm chemicals are also ways to voice villagers' ambivalent attitudes towards modernisation, consumerism, and development as contending forms of morality.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper will analyze the jurisprudential development and doctrine of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in relation to the international responsibility of the state, focusing on the cases ...where the liability was held because of an omission imputable to the state. The analysis will be done from its pronouncements under its contentious functions, seeking to identify the main lines of argument and the most representative cases. The jurisprudential search is not going to be exhaustive, but illustrative of the major developments of the idea of state responsibility based on an omission of the state.
En este artículo se hace un análisis sobre las formas en las que el crimen de genocidio puede ser atribuido a un Estado generando que éste incurra en responsabilidad internacional. Para ello, se ...estudian los elementos que componen al crimen de genocidio así como las reglas de atribución de actos ilícitos a los Estados. Finalmente, se analiza un caso concreto sobre la materia que fue resuelto por la Corte Internacional de Justicia.
This article analyses the ways in which the crime of genocide can be attributed to a State triggering its international responsibility. In doing so, the elements that comprise the crime of genocide are studied as well as the rules of attribution of internationally wrongful acts of States. Finally, a specific case solved by the International Court of Justice is analyzed.
Dans cet article on fait une analyse sur les formes dans lesquelles le crime de génocide peut être attribué à un État de manière qu’il encoure en responsabilité internationale. Pour cette raison, on étudie les éléments composant le crime de génocide et aussi les règles d’attribution des actes illicites aux États. Finalement, on analyse un cas concret sur le terrain qui a été résolu par la Cour Internationale de Justice.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Increasingly states engage in armed confl icts private military and security companies. It is believed that they are more mobile and effective in comparison with the regular national armed forces. ...However, the legitimacy of the activities of such companies in the armed confl ict is doubtful. In this connection, the article discusses some of the laws of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, applicable to the activities of PMSCs, and explores the question of the degree of regulation in international law.
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