UK

By Daniel Morris | 28. November 2017

The UK 2013 NAP‘s Introduction states that the document sets out the UK’s plan for further work to “support access to effective remedy for victims of human rights abuse involving business enterprises within UK jurisdiction”.

The UK 2013 NAP notes that [Chapter 2]:

“The Human Rights Act 1998 ensures that individuals in the UK have a remedy for the breach of rights which are protected by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It applies to all public authorities and other bodies performing public functions, as private companies sometimes do.”

The UK 2013 NAP has a section on access to remedy which states [Chapter 4] that:

“The UK has a culture of human rights awareness and protection – much of which results from our framework of legislation described earlier – and our range of remedy mechanisms is diverse. We recognize that remedy may include apologies, restitution, rehabilitation, financial or non-financial compensation and punitive sanctions, as well as the prevention of harm through, for example, injunctions or guarantees of non-repetition.

The UK sees its own provision of judicial remedy options as an important element in the remedy mix…

We will: …

(iv) support projects through the FCO Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund relating to work on remedy procedures in other countries, including: – help to States wishing to develop their human rights protection mechanisms and reduce barriers to remedy within their jurisdiction; – support to civil society and trade union efforts to access effective remedy and promote protection of human rights defenders who are actively engaged on issues relating to business and human rights; – support to business efforts to provide, adopt or participate in effective grievance mechanisms.

(v) keep the UK provision of remedy under review.”

The 2016 Updated UK NAP reiterates a number of the commitments in relation to judicial remedy included within the UK 2013 NAP, but further notes that [page 20]:

“The UK has a range of judicial mechanisms that help to support access to remedy for human rights abuses by business enterprises both at home and overseas. This includes:

  • Employment Tribunals provide access to remedy for abuses of labour rights
  • Avenues to pursue civil law claims in relation to human rights abuses by business enterprises.”

The UK 2016 Updated NAP also refers to judicial remedy in action oriented section Actions Taken to Promote Access to Remedy and notes that the Government has [page 21]:

(iii) supported projects through the FCO Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund on work on remedy procedures in other countries, including:

  • help to States wishing to develop their human rights protection mechanisms and reduce barriers to remedy within their jurisdiction;
  • support to civil society and trade union efforts to access effective remedy and promote protection of human rights defenders active on business and human rights;
  • support to business efforts to provide, adopt or participate in effective grievance mechanisms.

v) commissioned an independent survey of the UK provision of remedy to help our understanding of judicial and non-judicial remedies available to victims of human rights harms involving business enterprises.

The UK 2016 Updated NAP, in the section Government’s Commitments, states that [page 22]:

“The Government will:

(i) continue to ensure that the UK provides access to judicial and non-judicial remedies to victims of human rights harms linked to business activity. We will keep the UK provision of remedy under review.

(ii) continue to support work on remedy procedures in other countries, including help to other States, civil society and trade union efforts and support to business efforts.”