Goals
National civil courts have the potential to provide appropriate redress for victims of human rights (HRs) abuses caused by multinational corporations (MNCs) but, many times, they lack jurisdiction or adequate procedural rules. Certain situations of massive HRs violations, armed conflicts or institutional discrimination that may have taken place in that country may have also led to an inadequate, biased or easily manipulated judiciary. Furthermore, the applicable law will probably be the law of the country in which the damage occurs, which may be a legally underdeveloped country.
Considering the risks posed by MNCs and the existing problems in civil litigation before national courts, there is a need for further research in this area, especially as regarding jurisdiction and applicable law rules.
Target groups will be business & HRs stakeholders: lawyers (judges and practitioners), business representatives, NGOs and, where possible, victims.
Our project aims to:
- Research into the jurisdictional, applicable law and procedural obstacles that prevent fair and effective redress for victims, as well as reforms at EU level;
- Research into international and national obligations as well as suitable standards of care for corporations, which can be used by the European judiciary in order to assess the behaviour of corporations;
- Preparation of a handbook on judicial and non-judicial redress mechanisms for violations of HRs by European corporations;
- Design, offer and carry out training events for Business & HRs stakeholders, in order to inform them about the practice of judicial and non-judicial redress mechanisms;
- Disseminate information about corporate HRs obligations and redress mechanisms.