Norway

4. Access to Remedy [pages 40-41]:

The 27th principle concerns public non-judicial grievance mechanisms:

27. States should provide effective and appropriate non-judicial grievance mechanisms, alongside judicial mechanisms, as part of a comprehensive State-based system for the remedy of business-related human rights abuse.

Norway has a number of well-functioning institutions such as the Labour Inspection Authority, the Ombudsman for Children, the Consumer Ombudsman, the Equality and Anti-discrimination Ombudsman, the Norwegian Environment Agency and the Parliamentary Ombudsman for the Public Administration. There are also complaints mechanisms in connection with the rights of employees, children, women and men. For example, on the basis of the Environmental Information Act, the Appeals Board for Environmental Information handles appeals concerning rejected requests from private and public agencies for access to environmental information. The National Contact Point provides information on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles. The Contact Point also deals with individual cases independently of the government. In line with the Guidelines, the parties to cases that come before the Contact Point are expected to participate in good faith during the procedure.

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Section 4.3 Criteria for ensuring effective non-judicial grievance mechanisms [page 42]:

The criteria are designed to ensure that those for whom the mechanism is intended are aware of it, have confidence in it and are in a position to use it. Companies that establish grievance mechanisms should familiarise themselves with the criteria and seek to satisfy them. The OECD National Contact Point Norway follows these criteria.