ETOs - for human right beyond borders

UK Supreme Court rules in favour of Zambian communities to sue British company in UK courts 

Two thousand villagers in Zambia have been granted the right to sue the mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources, a transnational company headquartered in London and its Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in UK courts. The company is accused of polluting the communities’ water supply and dumping chemicals from its mining activities.

During the court hearing, the mining company argued that the...

At its 40th Session, held in Geneva from February 25 to March 22, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the Final Report of the Universal Periodical Review (UPR) Working Group on China. China had participated in the third cycle of the UPR which took place in November 2018. The report contains two recommendations related to the extraterritorial obligations (ETOs) of China which have been made during the UPR and accepted by the State.

China accepted to «promote measures that ensure that...

The 4^th session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights took place from the 15-19 October. The session evolved around the negotiation of a “zero draft” legally binding instrument as well as a draft optional protocol presented by the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the working group prior to the session. The session therefore represented the first moment of negotiations in the process, with...