Spain

By Daniel Morris | 25. April 2018

C. Pillar III. Access to Remedy [pages 24-25]

The Guiding Principle 30 considers the role of the States as participants in collaboration initiatives.

Measures

Guiding Principle 31. In order to ensure their effectiveness, non-judicial grievance mechanisms, both State-based and non-State-based, should be:

  1. a) Legitimate: enabling trust from the stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended, and being accountable for the fair conduct of grievance processes;
  2. b) Accessible: being known to all stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended, and providing adequate assistance for those who may face particular barriers to access;
  3. c) Predictable: providing a clear and known procedure with an indicative time frame for each stage, and clarity on the types of process and outcome available and means of monitoring implementation;
  4. d) Equitable: seeking to ensure that aggrieved parties have reasonable access to sources of information, advice and expertise necessary to engage in a grievance process on fair, informed and respectful terms;
  5. e) Transparent: keeping parties to a grievance informed about its progress, and providing sufficient information about the mechanism’s performance to build confidence in its effectiveness and meet any public interest at stake;
  6. f) Rights-compatible: ensuring that outcomes and remedies accord with internationally recognised human rights; g) A source of continuous learning: drawing on relevant measures to identify lessons for improving the mechanism and preventing future grievances and harms; Operational-level mechanisms should also be: h) Based on engagement and dialogue: consulting the stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended on their design and performance, and focusing on dialogue as the means to address and resolve grievances. The Report containing the Guiding Principles (A/HRC/17/31) clarifies that the first seven criteria apply to any state or non-state mechanism, Resolution or mediation. The eighth criterion is specific to the operational level mechanisms that companies help to manage. MEASURES: 1. Those contemplated in relation to Guiding Principles 27, 28 and 30.