Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411102900206 |
| Author | John Ruggie |
| Subject Matter | Part C: Appendices |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 29/2, 224â253, 2011.
224 © Netherlands I nstitute of Human Ri ghts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands.
PART C: APPENDICES
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE SECRETARYîGENERAL ON
THE ISSUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND
TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS
AND OTHER BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN
RIGHTS: IMPLEMENTING THE UNITED NATIONS
âPROTECT, RESPECT AND REMEDYâ FRAMEWORK
Jîîî Rîîîîî*
INTRODUCTION TO THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES
1. îe issue of business and human rights became permanently implanted on the
global policy agenda in the 1990s, reîecting the d ramatic worldwide expansion of
the private se ctor at the time, coupled with a corresponding rise in transnat ional
economic activity. îese de velopments heightened social awareness of businessesâ
impact on human rights a nd also attracted the attention of the United Nations.
2. One early United Nations-based initiative was called the Norms on Transnational
Corporations and Other Business Enterprises; it was draîed by an expert subsidiary
body of what was then the Commission on Human Rig hts. Essential ly, th is sought
to impose on c ompanies, directly u nder international law, the sa me range of human
rights duties that States have accepted for themselves under treaties they have ratiîed:
âto promote, secure the fulîlment of, respect, ensure respect of and protect human
ri gh ts â.
* Human Rights Council , Seventeenth session, Agenda item 3, Promotion and protection of all human
rights, civi l, political, economic , social and cultura l rights, including the r ight to development. îis
is t he înal report of the Special Representative. It sum marises his work from 20 05 to 2011, and
presents the âGuidin g Principles on Business and Human R ights: Implementing the United Nations
âProtect, Respect a nd Remedyâ Frameworkâ for consideration by the Human Rig hts Council. UN
Doc. A/HRC/13/31, 21 March 2011.
Report of the Spe cial Representative of t he Secretary-G eneral on the Issue of
Human Right s and Transnational Cor porations and Other Bu siness Enterprise s
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 29/2 (2011) 225
3. îis proposal triggered a deeply divisive debate between the business communit y
and human rights advocacy g roups while evoking little support from Governments.
îe C ommission declined to act on the proposal . Instead, in 2 005 it established a
mandate for a Special Representative of the Secret ary-General âon the issue of human
rights and transnat ional corporations and other business enterprisesâ to undertake
a new process, and reques ted the Secret ary-General to appoint the mand ate holder.
îis is the îna l report of the Special Representative.
4. îe work of t he Special Representative h as evolved in three phases. Reîecting
the mandateâs origins in controversy, its initial duration was only two years and it
was i ntended mainly to âidentify and clarif yâ existi ng standards and practices. îis
deîned the îrst phase. In 2005, there wa s little that counted as shared k nowledge
across di îerent stakeholder groups i n the business and human r ights domain. îus
the Special Representative bega n an extensive programme of systematic research that
has continued to t he present. Several thousand pages of documentation are avai lable
on his web p ortal (www.business-humanrig hts.org/SpecialRepPortal/Home):
mapping pat terns of a lleged human rights abus es by busi ness enterprises; evolving
standards of international human rights law and international criminal law; emerging
practices by States a nd companies; commentaries of United Nations treat y bodies on
State obligations concerning business-related human rights abuses; the impact of
investment agreements and corporate law and secur ities regulation on both Statesâ
and enterpri sesâ human r ights policies; and related subject s. îis rese arch has been
actively d isseminated, including to the Counci l itself. It has provided a broader and
more solid factual basis for the on-going business a nd human rights discourse, and is
reîected in the Guidi ng Principles annexed to this report.
5. In 2 007, the Council renewed the mandate of the Special Representative for an
additional year, inviting him to submit recommendations. îis marked the mandateâs
second phase. îe Special Re presentative observed th at there were many initiatives,
public and private, which touched on business and human rights. But none had reached
suîżcient scale to tru ly move markets; they existed as separ ate fragments that did not
add up to a coherent or complementary system. One major reason has be en the lack
of an authoritative foca l point around which the expect ations and actions of relevant
stakeholders could converge. îerefore, in June 2008 the Special Representative made
only one recommendation: that the Council support the âProtect, Respect and Remedyâ
Framework he had developed following three years of research and consultations. îe
Council did so, u nanimously âwelcomingâ the Framework in its Resolution 8/7 and
providing, thereby, the authoritative foca l point that had been missing.
6. îe Framework rests on three pi llars. îe îrst is the State duty to protect agai nst
human rights abuses by t hird parties , including business enterprises, through
appropriate policies, regu lation, and adjud ication. îe second is the corporate
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