Programme, Schedule & Required reading. DAY 1 (14 July) BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: AN EMERGING FIELD

Transcription

1 Programme, Schedule & Required reading All lectures are in room M (tenth/10 th floor) Montesquieu Building DAY 1 (14 July) BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: AN EMERGING FIELD Registration, Welcome & General Introduction Seminar I: Whose Business Are Human Rights? Dr. Daniel Augenstein & Prof. Nicola Jägers, Tilburg Law School Workshop: Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights at the National Level Ms. Dewi van de Weerd, Deputy head of the human rights division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dutch Government Writing a national action plan on business and human rights proved to be quite a challenge. In this session the plan itself and its creation process will be presented, as well as the state of play in the EU and the UN Lecture: Business and Human Rights, Where Are We Going and Does It Matter? Egbert Wesselink, Senior Advisor PAX for Peace Starting with some of the main developments since 20 years, and partly drawing from Wesselink s own NGO experience, it will be assessed to what extend the business community is currently assuming its human rights responsibilities. Trends and options will be identified, both theoretical and practical, trying to find out whether there can be an agenda that effectively promotes respect for human rights through business, and how that would look like.

2 DAY 2 (15 July) THE STATE DUTY TO PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS Seminar II: Home-state regulation and extraterritorial human rights protection Dr. Daniel Augenstein, Tilburg Law School The purpose of the seminar is to introduce students to current debates relating to extraterritorial human rights protection in the business and human rights context. We shall distinguish different dimensions of human rights extraterritoriality, and discuss the virtues and pitfalls of extending legal human rights protection beyond state territory Seminar III: Regulating Private Security Companies Dr. Sorcha MacLeod, Sheffield University School of Law, United Kingdom In this workshop we will examine the various mechanisms and processes which are being developed to regulate Private Security Companies (PSCs). We will ask whether 'robust selfregulation' is an effective tool for regulating PSCs, especially in relation to human rights or whether binding international law is required. In particular we will consider the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers, the PSC1 standard adopted by the US and UK governments and the work of the UN Intergovernmental working group to consider the possibility of elaborating an international regulatory framework on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military and security companies. You are expected to read the primary materials cited in the reading list prior to the seminar Workshop: Applying the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Professor Fons Coomans, UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Peace, Maastricht University The aim of this workshop is to apply the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to two real cases. The Principles were adopted by a group of experts in September 2011 with a view to filling the normative and accountability gap which has arisen as a result of the fact that the traditional territorial scope of

3 human rights treaties is not always helpful in dealing with actions and omissions of states and non-state actors which have consequences on the enjoyment of human rights in other countries. This is particularly relevant during times of economic globalization Lecture: 'Socialising and internalising human rights norms for Private Security Companies' Dr. Sorcha MacLeod, Sheffield University, School of Law, United Kingdom

4 DAY 3 (16 JULY) THE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS Self-Study Time: Designing a National Action-Plan on Business and Human Rights Seminar IV: Business and Human Rights: Voluntary or Mandatory; that s the question? Professor Nicola Jägers, Tilburg Law School One of the continuing controversies in the domain of business and human rights is the question whether corporate compliance with human rights standards is or should be of an obligatory nature or whether a voluntary approach is to be preferred. The call for a binding approach to the issue of business and human rights has recently gathered new momentum. On 26 June 2014, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling for the establishment on an internationallly treaty on business and human rights. During this lecture we will discuss the pros and cons of this approach. What should be the scope and content of such a treaty? In this context we will also revisit the concept of direct human rights obligations for corporations. Will a mandatory process ultimately help or hinder current efforts to address corporate human rights violations? Several perspectives on the voluntary-mandatory controversy will be discussed and we will address the question whether the dichotomy is both accurate and/or useful Workshop: Human rights due diligence Dr. Mariette van Huijstee, Senior research at the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations SOMO and Assistant Professor Corporate Responsibility, Open University. In this session, we will focus on the second pillar of the Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework: the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights. We will explore the concept of human rights due diligence further, and make explicit three responsibility-scenarios that can be derived from the Guiding Principles. We will use a quiz format with realistic examples of business related human rights abuse, and discuss which responsibility scenario applies based on the GP theory. This exercise is intended to bring the Guiding Principles to life.

5 Lecture: On the profitability of CSR: Does Doing Good result in Doing Better? Professor Daan van Soest, Scientific Director Tilburg Sustainability Centre (TSC).

6 DAY 4 (17 July) EXCURSION TO UTRECHT & THE HAGUE 10:00-12:00 Visit of Dutch Headquarters of Shell, The Hague Bert Fokkema, Social Performance and Human Rights Manager and Jurriaan Jongsma, Legal Counsel for CSR and Human rights topics. During the visit our hosts will present an overview of Shell s Social Performance approach and programme and the business perspective on the legal angle of CSR in practice, followed by a case study and group discussion. 14:30-17:00 Visit of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (the official Dutch NHRI), Utrecht Professor Nicola Jägers, Tilburg Law School: National Human Rights Institutes (NHRIs) & business and human rights: an introduction. Ms. Laurien Koster, Chair of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights. For more information about the work of the Dutch NHRI see: Dr. Ilse Griek, Responsible Investment Associate at Sustainalytics, a global responsible investment firm specialized in environmental, social and governance research and analysis. For more information about the work of Sustainalytics see:

7 DAY 5 (18 JULY) ACCESS TO JUSTICE Seminar V: Business, Human Rights and Access to Environmental Justice Professor Jonathan Verschuuren, Professor of International and European Environmental Law, Tilburg Law School. In the lecture on business, human rights and the environment, we will discuss the current status of human rights in an environmental context, as far as this is relevant for businesses, with a focus on the European Convention on Human Rights. We will also discuss the relationship between human rights and environmental law (including international environmental law), and between human rights and self-regulation in businesses. Important recent cases like the Trafigura case and the Shell Nigeria oil spills case will used to illustrate these discussions Seminar VI: Non-judicial remedies Professor Willem van Genugten, Professor of international law, Tilburg Law School In this lecture Prof. van Genugten will focus on human rights conflicts between companies and communities. While doing so, he will address a number of such cases and discuss the strenghts and weaknessess of non-judicial means of solving these conflicts Group presentations: Developing National Responses to Global Business & Human Rights Challenges Closing session *****