On the Human Rights of States--Report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights

(Pix Credit: No Attention Paid on Human Rights When Implementing Economic Reforms! – UN Observer Bewails)

The development of the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights by John Ruggie and his team now serves as one of the most influential. templates for developing normative and framework structures for embedding human rights--and for privileging the interests of human rights holders--in many aspects of human activity within and among states. Among the most important recent parallel efforts to develop Guiding Principles was that undertaken by John Knox-- Framework Principles of Human Rights and the Environment.

One of the areas that has generated substantial interest in the business sand finance sectors has been the role and the responsibilities of financial institutions for monitoring the human rights breaches of those companies in which they invest to to which they provide financing.  That focus has now extended from the private to the public sector.   

In his report the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, presents guiding principles on human rights impact assessments of economic reforms, which set out the human rights principles and standards that apply to States, international financial institutions and creditors when designing, formulating or proposing economic reforms. (Report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights 19 Dec. 2018)

The Report may be accessed HERE in multiple languages:

HRC

40th

19/12/2018

A/HRC/40/57

Guiding principles on human rights impact assessments of economic reforms - Report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights

E F S A C R

The Report is remarkable for its expansion of the fundamental ordering characteristics of human rights--from a class of rights inherent in the very character of the individual, to the ordering basis for all economic, political (and eventually religious, cultural and social relations). The Report is well worth reading for its content that focuses on the Obligations of States with respect to economic policies and human rights ("Obligations under human rights law should guide all efforts to design and implement economic policies. The economy should serve the people, not vice versa." Preamble ¶ 2).  But perhaps more important are its implications for the construction of a comprehensive human rights based approach to the assertion of public as well as private power in every sphere of human activity--and that those human rights are, in origin necessarily a product of consensus among the community of nations. One moves here along a trajectory that has, since the 1940s seen the shift in the focus of the language of governance first from politics to economics (producing the structures of globalization) and then from the language of economics to that of human rights. Human rights in this sense ceases to be normative and specific and instead becomes the very language through which one mus speak economics, politics, society, religion and culture.

The Guiding Principles on human rights impact assessments of economic reforms follow.

Article Published: "Aligning Emerging Global Strategies to Combat Corporate Corruption," The International Lawyer 52(1)1-45 (2019)

I am delighted to announce the publication of "Aligning Emerging Global Strategies to Combat Corporate Corruption," The International Lawyer 52(1)1-45 (2019).  My great thanks to the editors at the International Lawyer which is the official triannual publication of the American Bar Association's Section of International Law, for their work on this article and for a outstanding volume 52(1). 

The article considers the ways that different legal and regulatory mechanisms within public and private institutions might be better aligned to develop hybrid regulatory strategies to combat (and in the process to better manage the risk and magnitude of) corruption as well as its effects.  More particularly, it suggests that an alignment of prosecutorial practice with the risk management and compliance infrastructures of enterprises and lenders (including sovereign lenders), might be a useful step toward a coherent and comprehensive strategy. This combines elements of practice int he United States with those emerging in China to sketch what I call a two thrust strategy using an intertwined program of coordinated financial and criminal regulation. 

The Abstract and the Introduction follow. Comments and engagement always welcome. To order, visit the ABA store or contact the ABA Service Center. The Chinese language version of this essay appeared in the Jilin University Journal, social science edition 吉林大学学报社科版.

Part 7: The Results of the Cuban Constitutional Referendum -- Series, Considering the Cuban Constitutional Project, From Communist Party to Popular Plebiscite

In this post and those that follow we will begin to flesh out what we see as the great challenges of democracy in illiberal states, and the methods undertaken by the Caribbean (Cuban) form of Marxism Leninism, to meet those challenges. We will asses the extent to which they might claim success, and more importantly the extent to which the gulf between theory and execution remains a problem. We hope you will join us on this journey and look forward to engagement and discussion over the month. develop an approach. This February series is wrapped around work that Flora Sapio, James Korman and I are undertaking on the Cuban process of constitutional reform.

For Cuba, of course, the development of a viable socialist democracy is essential if it is to survive the passing of its revolutionary generation. And for that reason alone, Cuba provides a quite compelling laboratory for next generation democratic theory built on non-Western liberal assumptions. For these reasons we have chosen this years series theme: Caribbean Marxism's Socialist Democracy, Considering the Cuban Constitutional Project From Communist Party to Popular Plebiscite.

This Post includes Part 7: The Results of the Cuban Constitutional Referendum 2019.

Index of posts n this series HERE. 

Part 6: On the Nature of Voting in Cuban Marxist-Leninism; Situating Popular Assent Within an Ideological Cage -- Series, Considering the Cuban Constitutional Project, From Communist Party to Popular Plebiscite

(Pix Credit (c) Larry Catá Backer 2017)

In this post and those that follow we will begin to flesh out what we see as the great challenges of democracy in illiberal states, and the methods undertaken by the Caribbean (Cuban) form of Marxism Leninism, to meet those challenges. We will asses the extent to which they might claim success, and more importantly the extent to which the gulf between theory and execution remains a problem. We hope you will join us on this journey and look forward to engagement and discussion over the month. develop an approach. This February series is wrapped around work that Flora Sapio, James Korman and I are undertaking on the Cuban process of constitutional reform.

For Cuba, of course, the development of a viable socialist democracy is essential if it is to survive the passing of its revolutionary generation. And for that reason alone, Cuba provides a quite compelling laboratory for next generation democratic theory built on non-Western liberal assumptions. For these reasons we have chosen this years series theme: Caribbean Marxism's Socialist Democracy, Considering the Cuban Constitutional Project From Communist Party to Popular Plebiscite.

This Post includes Part 6: On the Nature of Voting in Cuban Marxist-Leninism; Situating Popular Assent Within an Ideological Cage.

Index of posts n this series HERE. 

La debida diligencia de derechos humanos: La Empresa Universitaria/Human Rights Due Diligence: The Enterprise of the University

It was my great good fortune to have been invited by the University of Seville's law faculty to speak about the emerging issues of human rights due diligence.  Human rights due diligence forms the heart of the responsibilities of enterprises to respect human rights as enshrined in the U.N. Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, and through them to the obligations of enterprises under the OECD's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.  At the same time, the due diligence required of enterprises with respect to the human rights consequences of the economic activities is missing from the state's paramount duty to protect human rights under the UNGPs--with respect to which state's retain the authority to order their approach under their constitutional systems, constrained by their capacity and political ideology, as well as the calculus of their ruling parties (as those may change form time to time ).

Fue una gran placer haber sido invitado por la facultad de derecho de la Universidad de Sevilla con intento de considerar los problemas emergentes de la diligencia debida en materia de derechos humanos. La debida diligencia en materia de derechos humanos constituye el núcleo de las responsabilidades de las empresas de respetar los derechos humanos consagrados en los Principios Rectores de las Empresas y los Derechos Humanos de la UN. Al mismo tiempo, la debida diligencia requerida de las empresas con respecto a las consecuencias para los derechos humanos de las actividades económicas falta en el deber primordial del estado y sus obligaciones de proteger los derechos humanos en cuenta de los UNGPs, con respecto a qué estado conservan la autoridad para ordenar su enfoque bajo sus sistemas constitucionales, restringidos por su capacidad e ideología política, así como el cálculo de sus partidos gobernantes (ya que estos pueden cambiar de un momento a otro). 

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The subject has been an area of focus for the UN's Working Group for Business and Human Rights and the subject of its last report to the General Assembly, "Corporate human rights due diligence – emerging practices, challenges and ways forward" (my more specific comments on which follow in a future post).   The Working Group centers its study on an aspirational approach to the possibilities of human rights due diligence and its broadest transposition into systems of legal regulation. That approach sought to aid in the convergence of frameworks and approaches to human rights to due diligence that includes the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. Both provide generalized guides for approaching the issue of HRDD, but neither provides guidance for the issues of implementation beyond the most general approaches to structure. And they differ in the sense that the UNGPs focus on human rights risks and the OECD focuses on business risks with respet to the same conduct.

El tema ha sido un área de enfoque para el Grupo de Trabajo de las Naciones Unidas sobre Empresas y Derechos Humanos y el tema de su último informe a la Asamblea General, "Diligencia debida sobre derechos humanos corporativos: prácticas emergentes, desafíos y formas de avanzar" (Mis comentarios más específicos en el que seguiremos en un futuro post). El Grupo de Trabajo centra su estudio en un enfoque aspiracional a las posibilidades de diligencia debida en materia de derechos humanos y su transposición más amplia a los sistemas de regulación legal. Ese enfoque buscó ayudar a la convergencia de marcos y enfoques de derechos humanos a la diligencia debida que incluye la Guía de diligencia debida de la OCDE para una conducta empresarial responsable. Los dos proporciona guías generalizadas para abordar el tema del DRHD, pero ninguno proporciona orientación para los problemas de implementación Más allá de los enfoques más generales de la estructura. Y difieren en el sentido de que los UNGPs se enfocan en los riesgos de derechos humanos y la OCDE se enfoca en los riesgos de negocios con respecto a la misma conducta.

Yet those issues of implementation are critical to HRDD.  To that end, it might be useful to begin to think about ways of modeling HRDD within complex organizations. For that purpose I chose the modern American university as a model.  It presents most of the complexities of major multinational enterprises yet it has been neglected as an economic and human rights actor.  It presents as well the meeting points between private institutions and state instrumentalities, and between private commercial and religious organizations. My initial thoughts on those convergences and the insights they provide for the organization of HRDD were presented  as La debida diligencia de derechos humanos y la empresa universitaria/Human Rights Due Diligence and the University Enterprise.

Sin embargo, esos problemas de implementación son críticos para HRDD. Con ese fin (de la resolución de esas problematicas), podría ser útil comenzar a pensar en formas de modelar HRDD dentro de organizaciones complejas. Para ello elegí como modelo la universidad americana. Esas instituciones presentan la mayor parte de las complejidades de las grandes empresas multinacionales, sin embargo, se ha descuidado como un actor económico y de derechos humanos. También presentan los puntos de encuentro entre instituciones privadas e instituciones estatales, y entre organizaciones privadas comerciales y religiosas. Mis reflexiones iniciales sobre esas convergencias y las ideas que proporcionan para la organización del HRDD se presentaron como La debida diligencia de los derechos humanos y la empresa universitaria / La diligencia debida en materia de derechos humanos y la Empresa universitaria. 

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Great thanks to Carmen Márquez Carrasco, Catedrática de Universidad del Departamento de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales, for organizing the event, as well as for her leadership in this field.  The PowerPoints of the presentation follow in English and Castellano.

Muchas gracias a Carmen Márquez Carrasco, Catedrática del Departamento de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales, por organizar el evento, así como por su liderazgo en este campo. Los PowerPoints de la presentación siguen en inglés y castellano.

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Jock Whittlesey-- International Environmental Governance; Presentation at the Penn State School of International Affairs 4 Feb 2019

It was my great pleasure to host Jock Whittlesey at the Penn State School of International Affairs for a lecture on "International Environmental Governance.  The presentation brought us a quite sophisticated view of the issues from the institutional perspective of the United States.  The presentation was marvelous and Mr. Whittlesey has kindly permitted me to share his PowerPoints.

 They follow below.