Course
BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Teacher
MARCO FISICARO
The course offers an overview of the increasingly prominent field of business and human rights from an international law perspective. The aim is to provide a compass to navigate the international legal framework governing the relation between business and human rights, exploring the main legal instruments adopted in the field and their actual implementation, both in business practice and in the relevant case-law of national and international courts.
The course is divided in three parts. The first part traces the origins and evolution of the United Nations (UN) legal framework in the field of business and human rights. Special attention is paid on three UN instruments adopted in the field, which are the expression of different models of how approaching the topic of business and human rights at the international level: 1) the UN Global Compact; 2) the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights (so-called UN Norms); 3) the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The second part is fully devoted to the UN Guiding Principles and examines, separately, the three pillars on which the instrument is built upon: 1) the State duty to protect human rights; 2) the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; 3) access to remedies. Finally, the third part explores the debate surrounding the possible adoption of a legally binding instrument regulating the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, examining the state of the art of negotiations on the draft UN Treaty on business and human rights.
The course combines video-lectures with interactive activities on specific topics relating to the course’s programme.
1. The United Nations Business and Human Rights Legal Framework
2. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
2.1. The UNGPs First Pillar: The State Duty to Protect Human Rights
2.2. The UNGPs Second Pillar: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights
2.3. The UNGPs Third Pillar: Access to Remedies
3. The Draft UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights
P. T. Muchlinski, Advanced Introduction to Business and Human Rights, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022.
The study of the textbook shall be integrated by the consultation of the relevant legal sources, especially of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The full text of the UN Guiding Principles and the relative commentary is available at this link (https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf), as well as on Moodle.
Further readings will be suggested during the course and added on Moodle.
The course combines traditional video-lectures with interactive activities, focusing on current developments in the field of business and human rights. The interactive activities are structured in three stages: 1) forum, which is intended to stimulate students to engage with the topic by reading and analysing the relevant materials indicated beforehand; 2) webinar, where students have the opportunity to discuss the topic with the professor; 3) assignment, consisting either in an essay or in open answers in a Q&A forum, which will be evaluated by the professor.
Students will be provided with several self-assessment tools, including the participation to interactive activities and a list of open-ended questions concerning the topics addressed in the lectures.
The evaluation is based on an oral examination, consisting of questions on the topics addressed during the course. The student’s participation to the planned interactive activities and the grade reported in the relative assignments will be also considered.
The course aims to raise awareness on the human rights implications of business activities, as well as on the international legal framework applicable in the field. The acquired knowledge will provide graduates with the necessary competences and tools to navigate this evolving legal framework, which proves ever more important not only from an academic perspective, but also in the daily life of businesses.