Improving the effectiveness of non-judicial remedies for business-related human rights abuses

Summary of the project: 

This study aims at analysing a selection of non-judicial remedies for business-related human rights abuses with a view to determine how to better improve their effectiveness according to the criteria established by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). In particular, this study focuses on the system of National Contact Points under the OECD Guidelines for state-based mechanisms, and on operational-level grievance mechanisms for non-state-based mechanisms.

Principal Investigator: Laura Iñigo Álvarez

Duration: 3 years (2021-2023)

Funding Institution: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education (Portugal). FCT Reference: UIDP/00714/2020

Research outputs:

  • Paper presentation entitled ‘Improving the effectiveness of non-judicial remedies for business-related human rights abuses: the case of National Contact Points at the OECD’ commented by Nicolas Hachez (OECD) at the Speed seminar at Nova School of Law on 17 March 2021.
  • Paper entitled ‘Seeking remedies for indigenous groups before the OECD National Contact Points’ presented at theFourth Annual NNHRR Conference Toogdag 2021: Human Rights and Vulnerability on 24th June 2021 https://www.humanrightshere.com/post/vulnerability-and-business-and-human-rights
  • Laura Íñigo Álvarez, Blog compendium – National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct: the road ahead for achieving effective remedies (Part I), December 2021 available at https://novaresearch.unl.pt/en/publications/blog-compendium-national-contact-points-for-responsible-business-
  • Laura Íñigo Álvarez, ‘Former employees of Bralima vs. Bralima and Heineken N.V: hacia el uso efectivo de la mediación en disputas sobre empresas y derechos humanos’ en Antoni Pigrau & Daniel Iglesias (coord.) Litigación en materia de empresas y derechos humanos: Estudios de casos (forthcoming).