Think Global, Act Local - Jackson Lewis

THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCALJackson Lewis LLPframework is intended to act as a focal point for the expectations and actions of States andcorporations in the interaction of transnational businesses and human rights.The “Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework” rests on three pillars:The first is the State duty to protect against human rightsabuses by third parties, including business enterprises, throughappropriate policies, regulation, and adjudication. The second isthe corporate responsibility to respect human rights, whichmeans that business enterprises should act with due diligenceto avoid infringing on the rights of others and to addressadverse impacts with which they are involved. The third is theneed for greater access by victims to effective remedy, bothjudicial and non-judicial. 5The scope of coverage of the Guiding Principles is all-inclusive, reflecting the application of theProtect, Respect, and Remedy Framework to the conduct of “all States and all businessenterprises, both transnational and others, regardless of their size, sector, location, ownershipand structure.” 6Under the “State Duty to Protect,” the Guiding Principles “recommend how governments shouldprovide greater clarity of expectations and consistency of rules for business in relation to humanrights.” The “Corporate Responsibility to Respect” principles provide “a blueprint for companieson how to know and show that they are respecting human rights.” The “Access to Remedy”principles focus on “ensuring that where people are harmed by business activities, there is bothadequate accountability and effective redress, judicial and non-judicial.” 7Within the sphere of corporate actions, and their effect on people and communities around theworld, the concern for human rights encompasses workers’ rights, and therefore, labor relations. Inaddressing corporate responsibility in that regard, the Guiding Principles speak broadly. “Theresponsibility to respect human rights is a global standard of expected conduct for all businessenterprises wherever they operate. It exists independently of States’ abilities and/or willingness tofulfill their own human rights obligations, and does not diminish those obligations. And it exists overand above compliance with national laws and regulations protecting human rights.” 8The Guiding Principles call for a “statement of policy” that expresses the business enterprise’scommitment, including:approval at the senior level;internal and/or external expertise;expectations of personnel, business partners and others directly linked to theenterprise;P A G E | 3