Resources on Accountability and Remedy

This page contains select resources, categorized by author, that address issues of accountability and access to remedy in relation to business-related human rights harms. Please visit our publications and resources page to find resources on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights more generally.

Note, OHCHR is not responsible for the contents of external links.

OHCHR

• Accountability and Remedy Project (ARP)
  • ARP I - Judicial mechanisms:
    • ARP I Report (A/HRC/32/19)
    • ARP I Explanatory Addendum (A/HRC/32/19/Add.1)
    • ARP I Illustrative Examples
    • The relevance of human rights due diligence to determinations of corporate liability (A/HRC/38/20/Add.2)
    • International operational-level cooperation with respect to criminal investigation: a short study of the work of Joint Investigation Teams in the European Union
    • State positions on the use of extraterritorial jurisdiction in cases of allegations of business involvement in severe human rights abuses: a survey of amicus curiae briefs filed by States and State agencies in ATS cases (2000-2015)
    • Cross-border regulation and cooperation in relation to business and human rights issues: a survey of key provisions and state practice under selected ILO instruments
    • Corporate liability for gross human rights abuses: Towards a fairer and more effective system of domestic law remedies
  • ARP II - State-based non-judicial grievance mechanisms:
    • ARP II Report (A/HRC/38/20)
    • ARP II Explanatory Addendum (A/HRC/38/20/Add.1)
    • ARP II Sector Study: How State-based NJMs respond to sectors with high risks of adverse human rights impacts
  • ARP III - Non-State-based grievance mechanisms:
    • ARP III Report (A/HRC/44/32)
    • ARP III Explanatory Addendum (A/HRC/44/32/Add.1)
    • Meeting the UNGPs’ Effectiveness Criteria: Summary of ARP III Guidance (Traducción no oficial en español)
  • ARP IV – Enhancing the accessibility, dissemination and implementation of the Accountability and Remedy Project: 
    • ARP IV Report (A/HRC/50/45)
    • Summary of consultations on enhancing access to remedy in the technology sector and on the enforcement of human rights due diligence (A/HRC/50/45/Add.1)
• The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: An Interpretive Guide
• Frequently Asked Questions on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• Materials on Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence
• B-Tech Project
• RBCLAC Project
• OHCHR and Global Compact: e-Learning Course on Business and Human Rights
• Remedy in Development Finance: Guidance and Practice
• Minding the Corporate Gap: How Human Rights Defenders and Companies Can Work Together to Tackle Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Persons
• OHCHR and Global Compact: UN LGBTIQ+ Standards Gap Analysis Tool

UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

• Tenth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: a roadmap for the next decade of business and human rights – raising the ambition, increasing the pace (A/HRC/50/40/Add.3)
• Implementing the third pillar: lessons from transitional justice guidance by the Working Group (A/HRC/50/40/Add.4)
• Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights at 10: taking stock of the first decade (A/HRC/47/39)
• The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: guidance on ensuring respect for human rights defenders (A/HRC/47/39/Add.2)
• Role of national human rights institutions in facilitating access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses (A/HRC/47/39/Add.3)
• Gender dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/41/43)
• Access to effective remedies under the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework (A/72/162)
• Best practices and how to improve on the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation between States with respect to law enforcement on the issue of business and human rights (A/HRC/35/33)
• Report from an Expert Workshop entitled “Business Impacts and Nonjudicial Access to Remedy: Emerging Global Experience” held in Toronto in 2013 (A/HRC/26/25/Add.3)

Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises

• Piloting principles for effective company/stakeholder grievance mechanisms: A report of lessons learned (A/HRC/17/31/Add.1)
• State obligations to provide access to remedy for human rights abuses by third parties, including business: an overview of international and regional provisions, commentary and decisions (A/HRC/11/13/Add.1)

Other UN Human Rights Mechanisms and Bodies

• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General comment No. 24 (2017) on State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities (E/C.12/GC/24)
• Committee on the Rights of the Child, General comment No. 16 (2013) on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights (CRC/C/GC/16)
• Human Rights Committee, General comment No. 36, Article 6: right to life (CCPR/C/GC/36)
• Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights: In 2014, a mandate was given to this intergovernmental working group by the Human Rights Council to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. Many materials relevant to access to remedy are available on their website.
• Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Racial discrimination and emerging digital technologies: a human rights analysis (A/HRC/44/57)
• Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains (A/HRC/30/35)
• Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Climate action and the right to development – International level (A/76/154)
• Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Access to justice and the rights to food: the way forward (A/HRC/28/65)
• Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation, Principle of accountability (A/73/162)
• Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Human Rights Defenders working on business and human rights (A/72/170)
• Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Workers’ Rights and Toxic Exposures (A/HRC/39/48)
• Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Beyond law enforcement, towards social justice: a human rights based-approach to trafficking in persons: Protection gaps in the legal and policy framework to prevent and combat trafficking (A/HRC/44/45)

Other UN system entities

• International Labour Organization, The linkages between international labour standards, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights
• International Organization for Migration, Operational guidelines for Businesses on Remediation of Migrant-worker Grievances
• UN Children’s Fund, Charting the Course: Embedding Children’s Rights in Responsible Business Conduct
• UN Children’s Fund, Child-friendly complaint mechanisms
• UN Development Programme, Routes to Remedy Toolkit
• UN Global Compact, Navigating the Future of Business and Human Rights: Good Practice Examples
• UNEP FI, Banks and Human Rights: A Legal Analysis

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct
• National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct: Providing Access to Remedy: 20 Years and the Road Ahead

Regional Bodies and Mechanisms

• African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Comparative Study on the Law and Practice of Reparations for Human Rights Violations
• Council of Europe, Business and Human Rights: A Handbook For Legal Practitioners
• Council of Europe, HELP Course on Business and Human Rights
• European Agency for Fundamental Rights, Improving access to remedy in the area of business and human rights at the EU level
• European Agency for Fundamental Rights, Business and human rights - access to remedy
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Business and Human Rights: Inter-American Standards

National Human Rights Institutions

• Danish Institute for Human Rights, National Human Rights Institutions and Access to Remedy in Business and Human Rights 
• GANHRI Working Group on Business and Human Rights
• International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions & Danish Institute for Human Rights, Business and Human Rights: A Guidebook for National Human Rights Institutions
• Network of African National Human Rights Institutions & Danish Institute for Human Rights, National Human Rights Institutions as Remedy Actors in the Context of Business Activities

Development Finance Institutions

• Green Climate Fund, Independent Redress Mechanism, Grievance Redress and Accountability Mechanism (GRAM) partnership
• Green Climate Fund, Independent Redress Mechanism, Self-Assessment Report of the Independent Redress Mechanism
• Inter-American Development Bank, Guide for Independent Accountability Mechanisms on Measures to Address the Risk of Reprisals in Complaint Management: A Practical Toolkit
• International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, Guidance Note: How to Adopt a Gender-Inclusive Approach to Dispute Resolution
• International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, Grievance Mechanism Toolkit

Other Stakeholders

• Business and Human Rights Resource Centre: a wide range of resources covering many topics relevant to accountability and access to remedy may be found on their website.
• Unofficial collection of resources referencing ARP