General Counsel are increasingly asked to help their business understand what the responsibility to respect human rights implies. There is growing recognition that a strong business case exists for respecting human rights and that the management of risks, increasingly means that General Counsel need to take human rights into account.
The International Bar Association (IBA) developed a Practical Guide on Business and Human Rights (The Practical Guide) to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the global standard on business’ responsibility to respect human rights. The UNGPs are relevant to many areas of business legal practice, including but not limited to corporate governance, reporting and disclosure, litigation and dispute resolution, contracts and agreements, land acquisition, development and use, resource exploration and extraction, labour and employment, tax, intellectual property, lobbying, bilateral treaty negotiation, and arbitration. It is important to understand how the UNGPs may affect business activities. The Practical Guide gives guidance on how to practice law with respect for human rights.
You can download the IBA’s_Practical_Guide here.