Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights

This is an important development. John Ruggie, Special Representative of the (UN) Secretary General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, in response to a request from the Human Rights Council, has just released a report containing a conceptual and policy framework that will suggestion direction for all parties involved in discussions of business and human rights and corporate social responsibility. Quoting from the summary of the report, the framework contains three principles:

• the State duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business;
• the corporate responsibility to respect human rights;
• the need for more effective access to remedies.

Here is the full report.