The Second Generation Challenges of the Right to Development (I): Can the Right to Development be Rescued?
More than thirty years have passed since the UN General Assembly proclaimed the right to development, but its promise remains largely unfulfilled. The right to development was intended to contribute...
Taking the backseat? Strategic utilisation of human rights in the implementation of SDGs
Human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are closely entwined. The text of the Agenda declares that human rights constitute the foundation and the aim of development. It states...
The Supreme Court of Canada Expands the Scope of Employment Discrimination
In December 2017 the Supreme Court of Canada released an important decision regarding the scope of discrimination “regarding employment” under provincial human rights legislation, in British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal...
“Anyone can make claims” – Is the KiK case proof of access to remedy against corporate human rights violations?
There are many hurdles preventing victims of corporate rights abuses overseas from bringing claims in European courts against European companies and accessing an effective remedy. The claim against German retailer...
Why Artificial Intelligence is Already a Human Rights Issue
Last month, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Professor Philip Alston released a statement following his official visit to the United States. Beyond many issues around taxation,...
Negotiating for Change in Climate Change
Last month, leaders from around the world gathered in New York for the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The Paris Agreement dominated high-level discussions, a poignant...
A No-Man’s Land of Justice: Holding Corporations Accountable for Human Rights (with Boni Meyersfeld)
There are many ways in which private businesses hold financial and political power akin to states. They also commit violations and abuses of power akin to states. But are they...
Reframing the Agenda, Repurposing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights In Support Of Regime Change in Weak Governance Zones
The governance gap – the gap between where law extends compared to where business activity goes – was a driving force behind the creation of the Guiding Principles on Business...
The New UN General Comment And Privatisation, Part 2: Can States Entirely Privatise The Delivery Of Essential Services?
Two weeks ago, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published the much-awaited new General Comment 24 – an authoritative interpretation of international human rights law –...
The New UN General Comment on Business and Human Rights, Part 1: What Regulations Must States Put in Place when Private Actors are Involved in the Delivery of Essential Services?
Two weeks ago, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published the much-awaited new General Comment 24 – an authoritative interpretation of international human rights law –...
Human Rights, the Environment and Mining: Holding Transnational Corporations Accountable
Litigation that tests the division between corporate and state human rights obligations, and the synergies between environmental and human rights law, is currently underway in Peru. The Tintaya-Antapaccay mine in...
Hacienda Brasil Verde Workers v. Brazil: Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court has handed down its first judgment on slavery and human trafficking, and structural discrimination based on “economic position”. The case also contributes to the Court’s jurisprudence on...
