UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Making Headway towards Real Corporate Accountability?
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411102900201 |
| Author | Nicola Jägers |
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Column |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 29/2, 159–163, 2011.
© Netherlands I nstitute of Human Ri ghts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands. 159
COLUMN
Un GUIDInG PRInCIPLes on
BUsIness AnD HUMAn RIGHts:
MAkInG HeADwAy towARDs ReAL
CoRPoRAte ACCoUntABILIty?
N J*
During the June 2011 session of t he Human Rights Counci l, the United Nations
Special Representative to the Sec retary General on Business and Human R ights
(Special Representative), professor John Ru ggie, is expected to get his ‘Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights’ adopted.1 e Guiding Pri nciples,2 which
are an operationalisation of the Special Representative’s ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy
Framework’, are intended to provide practical advice to governments, companies
and other stakeholders on how better to protec t individuals and communities from
adverse human rights impac ts of business activities.
e Principles are the culmination of six years of work by t he Spec ial Representative
on the issue of busines s and human rights.3 e sig nicance of the work of professor
Ruggie must be underlined. In the patchwork of disconnected reg ulatory initiat ives
that have spru ng up in this eld over the years, his work has already become an
authoritative focal point embraced by many of the stakeholders involved. He has
produced a slew of important reports eshing out many aspects of the role of business
in human rig hts violations. He has right ly been applauded for the momentum his
work has brought to the debate on the role of corporations in human r ights. Indeed,
the disc ussion had come to a virtual ha lt aer an ea rlier attempt to draw up human
rights norms applicable to cor porations failed . ese so-called ‘UN Norms on the
Responsibilities of Transnational Corpor ations and other Business Enterprises with
* Nicola Jägers is associate professor at Tilburg Universit y, the Netherl ands and member of t he
executive editor ial board of the Net herlands Quarter ly of Human Rights.
1 When th is issue went t o press, the deliberations in t he Human Rights Council were yet to take
place. At the time of w riting, general ly, the expectation is that t he Guiding Principle s of the Special
Representative w ill be accepted.
2 HRC, e Guiding Princ iples on Busi ness an d Human Rights: Implement ing the United Nations
‘Protect, Re spect and Re medy’ Framework, U N Doc. A/H RC/17/31, 21 March 2011. e Gu idelines
can be found in t he appendix of this is sue.
3 Documents relating to the work of the SRSG c an be found at the sp ecial portal of t he website
www.business-humanrights.org.
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