Malawi is one of the top five tobacco leaf-producing countries in Africa. Farmers often work under exploitative and hazardous conditions. In certain tobacco producing regions, 57% of children are engaged in child labour on tobacco farms. Find out how a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act could have made a difference.
Over a number of decades, oil spills from Shell’s operations led to devastating environmental impacts with disastrous consequences for the local residents. The spills contaminated the communities’ land and waterways which they relied on for farming, drinking, and washing. Find out how a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act could have made a difference.
Despite serious red flags concerning Supermax’s labour practices and ongoing investigations, NHS Supply Chain named Supermax an approved supplier in December 2021. The US Government had previously introduced import bans on Supermax products based on its finding of forced labour. Find out how a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act could have made a difference.
This parliamentary briefing argues that we urgently need a new UK law to hold companies to account when they fail to prevent human rights abuses and environmental harms in their global value chains. A new law is called for by UK civil society organisations, businesses, investors, and more than 100,000 people in the UK who...
This briefing for MPs and Peers outlines the urgent need for a new law to hold companies to account when they fail to prevent human rights abuses and environmental harms.
Ten years on from the introduction of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), voluntary initiatives have failed to have a meaningful impact on tackling abuse in business operations and supply chains. This includes modern slavery, unsafe working conditions, attacks on human rights defenders including trade unions, pollution of land and water,...
49 leading businesses and investors have called on the UK Government to introduce a new legal requirement for companies and investors to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence. A group including Microsoft, Tesco, Primark and Nestlé said: “Legislation can contribute to a competitive level playing field, increase legal certainty about the standards expected...
Attached is the joint submission that CJC and Traidcraft Exchange filed to the Law Commission consultation on corporate criminal liability. Its co-authored by Stuart Biggs (Barrister at Three Raymond Buildings) and Rachel Chambers (Professor in Business Law at the University of Connecticut). In the submission we make the case that the Law Commission’s review...
The Law Commission has published an options paper for the Government on how it can improve the law to ensure that corporations are effectively held to account for committing serious crimes. You can read the summary of the opitions paper here.
