{"id":448,"date":"2019-04-22T08:52:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T06:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advokatskafirmasajic.com\/blog\/?p=448"},"modified":"2019-04-22T08:52:45","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T06:52:45","slug":"business-and-human-rights-2-part","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advokatskafirmasajic.com\/blog\/business-and-human-rights-2-part\/","title":{"rendered":"BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, 2. PART"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
  1. Introduction<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The UN Human Rights Council with its\nResolution No. 17\/4 of 16 June 2011 adopted the Guiding Principles of Business\nand Human Rights: implementation of “Protecting, Respecting, Remedy”\nthe United Nations Framework (hereafter: the Guiding Principles). The Guiding\nPrinciples are the result of the multi-annual work of the Special\nRepresentative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights, Transnational\nCorporations, and Enterprises. It consists of three sections. The first section\nrefers to the State duty to protect human\nrights<\/em>, the second to the corporate\nresponsibility to respect the human rights<\/em>, while the third section is\nrelated to the Judicial and extrajudicial\nlegal protection of human rights<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the first text devoted to this topic,\nwe dealt with the obligations of states and legal protection, and in the second\npart, we are dealing with obligations of companies and corporations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. <\/strong>The corporate responsibility<\/em> to respect human rights<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.1. Basic principles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Companies should respect human\nrights. This means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of\nothers and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are\ninvolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The responsibility of companies to respect\nhuman rights requires that the companies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (a) Avoid causing or contributing to adverse\nhuman rights impacts through their own activities, as well as to address such\nimpacts when they occur; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (b) Seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human\nrights impacts that are directly related to their operations, products or\nservices by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to\nthose impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The responsibility of companies to\nrespect human rights applies to all enterprises regardless of their size,\nsector, operational context, ownership and structure. Of course, the scale and\ncomplexity of the means through which the companies meet that responsibility\nmay vary according to these factors and with the severity of the company\u2019s\nadverse human rights impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In order to meet their\nresponsibility to respect human rights, companies should have in place policies\nand processes appropriate to their size and circumstances, including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (a) A policy commitment to meet\ntheir responsibility to respect human rights; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (b) Appropriate process to identify,\nprevent, mitigate and take responsibility for how they address their impacts on\nhuman rights; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (c) Processes, which enable the\nremediation of any adverse human rights impacts, they cause or to which they\ncontribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.2. Operational Principles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The first step, which companies need\nto do, is to express their commitment to respect human rights by adopting a\nprogram statement approved at the most senior level of governance. The\nstatement should be made on the basis of appropriate knowledge of its own\nand\/or external experts. In it, the company lists what kind of relationship to\nhuman rights awaits its employees, business partners and other actors directly\nrelated to its business, products or services. The statement should be made\navailable to the public and forwarded to all employees, business partners and\nother relevant parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Companies should show due care of\nhuman rights in order to determine and prevent their own negative impacts on\nhuman rights, their mitigation and reporting on the way they are being removed.\nThis process should include the assessment of actual and potential impacts on\nhuman rights, taking of appropriate measures based on results, and the\nassessment, monitoring of responses and reporting on the way they are removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Due attention to human rights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    a) It should refer to the negative impact on\nhuman rights that a company may or may contribute by its activities, or which\nmay be directly related to its business, products or services due to its\nbusiness relationship;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    b) vary by complexity, depending on\nthe size of the company, the danger of a serious negative impact on human\nrights and nature and context in which it operates;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    c) It should be stable and keep in mind that\nthe dangers of human rights can change over time, along with company’s activity\nchanges and the context in which it operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In order to assess the risk to human\nrights, companies need to identify and evaluate all actual or potential\nnegative impacts on human rights in which they may be involved due to their own\nactivities or their business relationships. During this process, companies\nshould rely on the expertise of their own and\/or independent external human\nrights experts and to consult with groups that may be endangered and other\nrelevant stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In order to prevent and mitigate the\nnegative impact on human rights, companies should integrate the findings of\nimpact assessments into appropriate internal functions and procedures and take\nappropriate measures. Effective integration involves assigning responsibilities\nto employees at the appropriate level and functions in the company to eliminate\nthis impact and the existence of an internal decision-making process, budgetary\nallocation and supervisory procedures necessary for effective response to this\nimpact. Appropriate measures will depend on whether a company causes or\ncontributes to a negative impact or its involvement stems solely from the fact\nthat this impact is directly related to its production, products or services\ndue to its business relationships, and from the leverage of the power, the\ncompany has to remove the negative impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Companies should monitor the\neffectiveness of the measures they have taken to ensure that the negative\nimpact on human rights is removed. This monitoring should be based on\nappropriate qualitative and quantitative indicators and be based on feedback\nfrom both internal and external sources, including vulnerable stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The responsibility of companies for\nremoving their impact on human rights implies their willingness to present such\ninformation outside of the company, especially in cases where concern about\nsuch an impact is expressed by or on behalf of endangered parties. Companies\nwhose business or the context in which they operate carry with them a risk of\nserious human rights impacts should formally report on the ways in which they\nare being disposed of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.3. Damage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When companies determine that they\nhave caused or contributed to a negative impact, they should provide or\ncooperate in providing damage compensation using the procedures envisaged by\nlaw. Even a company with the best policy and practice can cause or contribute\nto a negative impact on human rights that has not been foreseen or prevented.\nWhen identifying such a situation, the company’s duty to respect human rights\nimplies its active participation in the compensation procedure, either\nindividually or in cooperation with other actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.4. Context Question<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Companies in all contexts should\ncomply with all applicable laws and internationally recognized human rights\nwherever they operate, to seek ways to respect the principles of\ninternationally recognized human rights in cases where they face controversial\nclaims, and to treat the dangers which cause or contribute to grave injuries of\nhuman rights relations as regards the issue of respect for the law, regardless\nof where they operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When they need to prioritize measures to remove tangible and potential negative impacts on human rights, companies should initially try to prevent and mitigate the most adverse serious impacts or those that would be irreparable in the event of a subsequent reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Author: Aleksandar Sajic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    E-mail: aleksandar@afsajic.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS<\/a><\/blockquote>