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UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

In June 2011 the UN Human Rights Council unanimously approved the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The Guiding Principles are a framework that assigns responsibility to states and businesses to prevent and address business-related human rights abuses. The principles which operationalise the ‘protect, respect and remedy’ framework are grounded in recognition of:

(a) The states’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights including protecting against human rights abuses by third parties, such as businesses;

(b) The role of business to respect human rights, which includes the concept of ‘do no harm’;

(c) The need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective judicial and non-judicial remedies for victims when breached.

State duty to protect

Guiding Principle 1

Guiding Principle 2

Guiding Principle 3

Guiding Principle 4

Guiding Principle 5

Guiding Principle 6

Guiding Principle 7

Guiding Principle 8

Guiding Principle 9

Guiding Principle 10

Corporate responsibility to respect

Guiding Principle 11

Guiding Principle 12

Guiding Principle 13

Guiding Principle 14

Guiding Principle 15

Guiding Principle 16

Guiding Principle 17

Guiding Principle 18

Guiding Principle 19

Guiding Principle 20

Guiding Principle 21

Guiding Principle 22

Guiding Principle 23

Guiding Principle 24