Tenth session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights

Please note that the dates for the 10th session have been confirmed: 16 – 20 December 2024

Overview

On 26 June 2014, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 26/9, in which it decided "to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, whose mandate shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises."

Since, the open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) has had nine sessions (see history of the process below).

After the ninth session, the Chair-Rapporteur released a roadmap towards the tenth session of the OEIGWG that proposes a timeline of activities to take place during the intersessional period. Details about these activities can be found in the section on intersessional activities below.

In line with the roadmap and the recommendations of the Chair-Rapporteur of the 9th session, the Chair-Rapporteur recommended that OHCHR provide suggestions for legal experts to assist with intersessional, interregional thematic consultations to discuss the draft legally binding instrument (A/HRC/55/59, para 31(e)). A call for nominations of such legal experts to serve in their personal capacity was open until 14 June 2024. OHCHR received 102 applications from legal experts. Of those applications that met the criteria set for selection, including the need to achieve a balanced representation, OHCHR recommended 17 people. From those recommendations, and after careful and detailed analysis, the Chair-Rapporteur selected five main legal experts and five alternate legal experts, who will be called upon if main legal experts are unable to perform their duties.

Please note that the dates for the 10th session of the OEIGWG have been confirmed: 16 to 20 December 2024.
The link to register via Indico is available here.

Please regularly consult this webpage, as more information will be posted as it becomes available. If you have any questions, please contact ohchr-igwg-tncs@un.org

For side-events, please submit your proposal by 29th November using this form.

Documents

Intersessional Activities

On 28 March 2024, the Chair-Rapporteur shared a proposed draft roadmap towards the 10th session, as well as an invitation to a consultation to receive comments and suggestions on the draft (also available in French and Spanish). The consultation took place on Friday, 12 April 2024 in person in the Palais des Nations.

Following that discussion, the Chair-Rapporteur made revisions and shared the updated roadmap towards the 10th session of the OEIGWG on 3 May 2024.

In line with the roadmap, the following consultations took place during the intersessional period:

a consultation on methodology was held on 23 May 2024 (in person and virtually), during which the Chair-Rapporteur delivered introductory remarks that included ideas for improving the methodology of the OEIGWG
a consultation on a preliminary draft (procedural) decision for HRC 56 was held on 6 June 2024 (in person and virtually)
informal consultations on the draft (procedural) decision for HRC 56 were held on 21 June 2024, 25 June 2024, and 27 June 2024
a consultation on a draft programme of work and the methodology for the 10th session of the OEIGWG was held on 3 September 2024 (in person and virtually). The thematic consultation originally scheduled on 5 September was made part of the online consultation of the afternoon of 3 September, with the assistance of the selected legal experts, and without prejudice to further thematic consultations at a date to be determined in the future.

At its 56th session, on 11 July 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted decision 56/116 to enhance the support capabilities of the OEIGWG.

History of the Process

The first and second sessions of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights were dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature and form of a future international instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

During the third session, the Working Group discussed elements for a draft legally binding instrument prepared by the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG taking into consideration the discussions held during the first two sessions.

During the fourth session, the Working Group's discussions focused on a zero draft legally binding instrument, as well as a zero draft optional protocol to be annexed to the zero draft legally binding instrument.

During the fifth session, a revised draft of the legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

During the sixth session, a second revised draft of the legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

During the seventh session, a third revised draft of the legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

During the eighth session, the third revised draft of the legally binding instrument with the textual proposals submitted by States during the seventh session served as the basis for negotiations. Additionally, to help advance discussions during the eighth session, States and non-State stakeholders could also comment on informal contributions presented by the Chair-Rapporteur on select articles of the instrument.

During the ninth session, an updated draft legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

At its 56^th session, on 11 July 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted decision 56/116 to enhance the support capabilities of the OEIGWG.