1st Edition
Business and Human Rights in Europe International Law Challenges
Transnational business activities are important drivers of growth for developing and the least developed countries. However, they can also negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights. In some cases, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have even been accused of grave human rights abuses in the territory of the states where their subsidiaries operate. Since the parent companies of many MNEs are incorporated under the law of European states, those countries’ domestic law and the European legal framework play a crucial role in establishing how their activities should be conducted – also throughout their supply chains – and which remedies will be available when corporate human rights violations occur. In recent years, the European Union, the Council of Europe and their Member States have been adopting policies and legislation to ensure respect for human rights by businesses and have developed a body of related case law. These legal instruments can be considered the European responses to the challenges posed at international-law level, and they constitute the focus of research of this book. Through its collected chapters – written by scholars and practitioners under the direction of the editor, Angelica Bonfanti – the book identifies the European solutions to the business and human rights international legal issues, provides an overall assessment of their effectiveness, and examines their potential evolution.
Notes on Contributors
Foreword
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
1 Introduction
Angelica Bonfanti
2 Sustainable Development Goals in Europe and Their Intersection with the Business and Human Rights Framework
Paolo Davide Farah
3 Managing Global Interdependencies through Law and Governance: The European Approach to Business and Human Rights
Daniel Augenstein
Part I
The State Duty to Protect Human Rights: The European Perspective
4 Enforcing the State Duty to Protect under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Strasbourg Views
Marco Fasciglione
5 Are European Home States of Transnational Corporations Responsible for Their Impacts Abroad under the ECHR?
Claire Methven O ’ Brien
6 The Duty to Protect in Public Procurement: Toward a Mandatory Human Rights Clause?
Deborah Russo
7 The EU’s Promotion of Human Rights and Sustainable Development through PTAs as a Tool to Influence Business Regulation in Third Countries
Leonardo Borlini
8 National Action Plans: A Pathway to Effective Implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles?
Marta Bordignon
Part II
The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: European Approaches
9 European Approaches to Promoting Responsible Supply Chains
Cindy S . Woods
10 Due Diligence, Reporting and Transparency in Supply Chains: The United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act
Olga Martin- Ortega
11 Blending Together Human Rights Due Diligence with ‘Criminal’ Law: Opportunities and Pitfalls of the Italian Solution
Paola Cavanna
12 From Human Rights Due Diligence to Duty of Vigilance: Taking the French Example to the EU Level
Tiphaine Beau de Loménie, Sandra Cossart and P aige Morrow
13 Corporate Human Rights Compliance and Disinvestment: Lessons from the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund
Ludovica C hiussi
14 EU Approaches on ‘Conflict Minerals’: Are They Consistent with the UN/OECD Supply Chain Due Diligence Standards?
Valentina Grado
15 ICT Companies’ Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: Remarks in the Light of the EU General Data Protection Regulation
Angelica Bonfanti
Part III
Access to Remedy in Europe
16 Access to Remedy for the Victims of Corporate-Related Human Rights Abuse: Assessing the Contribution of the Fundamental Rights Agency
Carmen Márquez Carrasco
17 Adjudicate This! Foreign Direct Liability and Civil Jurisdiction in Europe
Lucas Roorda
18 The Civil Liability of the Parent Company for the Acts or Omissions of Its Subsidiary: The Example of the Shell Cases in the UK and the Netherlands
Claire Bright
19 Corporate Liability and Human Rights: Access to Criminal Judicial Remedies in Europe
Adriana Espinosa González and Marta Sosa Navarro
20 European Trends in Tort Law Remedies to Address Corporate Human Rights Abuses
Florentine Vos
Concluding Remarks
Angelica Bonfanti
Index
Biography
Angelica Bonfanti is Associate Professor in International Law in the Law Faculty of the University of Milan. Her research activity focuses chiefly on public and private international law, business and human rights, cyber law, and international trade and investment law.
