BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: The OHCHR Accountability and Remedy Project EU Roadmap to Business and Human Rights, 11 May 2016 Ms. Lene Wendland, OHCHR Advisor on Business and Human Rights; Head, Business and Human Rights Team

The OHCHR Accountability and Remedy Project  Launched in November 2014  Aim: to contribute to better implementation of Access to Remedy provisions (Pillar III) of the UN Guiding Principles  Human Rights Council mandate (Res 26/22)  Six separate but interrelated work-streams aimed at addressing legal, practical and financial barriers  Consultations on draft guidance took place in November 2015 and Feb-March 2016  Final report to be presented to the Human Rights Council in June 2016

Guidance to States to strengthen accountability and access to remedy  Guidance to States in the form of a series of policy objectives plus “elements” showing ways that the objectives can be met  Designed to be flexible and adaptable to different legal traditions, structures and needs  Draws upon “good State practice” identified in the course of research  Covers both public and private enforcement  Final report complemented by additional online resources with illustrative examples to aid implementation

Financial barriers  ARP work-stream devoted to financial obstacles, identified as a significant hurdle to private claims in all jurisdictions  Two key issues:  Access to sources of funding (public and private sources)  Legal and court costs (lawyers´ fees and court costs)  Guidance addresses:  Diversifying sources of funding for claimants  Reducing court costs (e.g. through technologies, improvements to efficiency)

Evidential barriers  Challenges with respect to evidence-gathering were addressed in two work-streams, i.e.  Supporting the work of domestic enforcement bodies; and  Roles and responsibilities of States in cross-border cases (public and private)  Challenges identified include:  Lack of resources and expertise to carry out investigations into complex corporate structures  Lack of confidence applying corporate liability concepts  Problems are exacerbated in cross-border context (e.g. accessing necessary legal assistance from other jurisdictions in a timely fashion)  Guidance addresses:  Ensuring that prosecutors have access to resources and expertise necessary to investigate allegations quickly and properly  Ensuring that assistance from counterparts in other jurisdictions can be swiftly obtained

How could EU member states use and implement the guidance?  Can be implemented through national processes – e.g. national action plans, domestic legal review processes  Can be taken up and acted on in sub-regional, regional or international contexts – e.g. EU strategies on BHR, CSR…  Can be used to strengthen EU-wide cooperation on BHR-related issues – e.g. Joint Investigation Teams Guidance enables states to review and identify practical ways to improve the effectiveness of their legal systems in holding companies to account for abuses and providing remedy

Thank you! For more information: business-humanrights.org/en/ohchr-accountability-and- remedy-projectbusiness-humanrights.org/en/ohchr-accountability-and- remedy-project or > Business > Initiative on Access to Remedy