NOTE : A Commentary of the Draft Optional Protocol to the Business and Human Rights Treaty

Nadia BERNAZ

Earlier this month, the Permanent Mission of Ecuador, on behalf of the Chairmanship of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG) in charge of the elaboration the business and human rights treaty, released a Zero Draft Optional Protocol to the Zero Draft “Legally binding instrument to regulate, in international Human Rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises”. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre published my commentary of the Zero Draft treaty, as part of a series.

OUVRAGE : N. Bernaz, Business and Human Rights. History, Law and Policy: Bridging the Accountability Gap

Nadia BERNAZ

Business corporations can and do violate human rights all over the world, and they are often not held to account. Emblematic cases and situations such as the state of the Niger Delta and the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory are examples of corporate human rights abuses which are not adequately prevented and remedied. Business and human rights as a field seeks to enhance the accountability of business – companies and businesspeople – in the human rights area, or, to phrase it differently, to bridge the accountability gap. Bridging the accountability gap is to be understood as both setting standards and holding corporations and businesspeople to account if violations occur.

ACTU : Complicity of War Crimes: Criminal Complaint against a French Technology Company

Nadia BERNAZ

A Palestinian family, with the support of the ACAT and represented by the Paris-based law firm Ancile-avocats, have filed a criminal complaint against the French company Exxelia Technologies. They claim that the company is at least guilty of manslaughter and possibly also complicit in a war crime. In July 2014, a missile, probably dropped from a drone, landed on the Shuheibar’s family house’s roof where several children were feeding birds. A little girl – Afnan (8) – and two boys – Wassim (9) and Jihad (10) – were killed in the attack. Two other children – Udai (15) and Bassil (9) – were severely injured. As the house does not appear to have been a legitimate military target, the attack may constitute a war crime. In the debris, a component was found on which one could read “Eurofarad France”. Experts have since determined that the component is a Hall effect sensor made by Exxelia Technologies.

NOTE : Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Appeals Panel Confirms Jurisdiction over Corporations in Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. Contempt Case

Nadia BERNAZ

On 23 January 2015, the Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon decided that the Tribunal has jurisdiction in the contempt case against the media company Akhbar Beirut S.A.L. This is the second decision in which this body concludes that the Tribunal has jurisdiction over a legal person (the first one was in the New TV S.A.L. case).

NOTE : Coup de théâtre at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon over Corporate Criminal Liability

Nadia BERNAZ

As I discussed in a previous post, the Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon unexpectedly decided in October that the Tribunal has jurisdiction over corporations in contempt proceedings. The decision was taken in relation to case STL-14-05, a contempt case against a news corporation, New TV S.A.L., and Ms Karma Khayat, the company’s Deputy Head of News and Political Programmes Manager. They are both accused of an offence against the administration of justice for having disclosed names of witnesses of the Tribunal in a TV programme.

NOTE : Decision of the Caribbean Court of Justice on Unenforceablility of Arbitral Award on Grounds of Public Policy

Nadia BERNAZ

In the past weeks I have been doing some research and writing in the field of international investment law and its interplay with human rights. To put it bluntly, my conclusion, as well as many other scholars’, is that there is little (i.e. not enough) consideration for human rights in arbitral awards and that re-balancing in this area would be a welcome move.

ANALYSE : General Comment of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on State Obligations regarding the Impact of the Business Sector on Children’s Rights

Nadia BERNAZ

On 15 March 2013, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted General Comment No 16 on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights. The comment has emerged from the realisation that “business can be an essential driver for societies and economies to advance in ways that strengthen the realisation of children’s rights through, for example, technological advances, investment and the generation of decent work. However, the realisation of children’s rights is not an automatic consequence of economic growth and business enterprises can also negatively impact children’s rights” [para. 1].