"The fight against impunity: the forum necessitatis", Jul 2015

The existing legal and procedural barriers in national and international level for the prosecution of the activities such as genocide, war crimes or torture, committed by individuals and by companies, which undermine the possibility of victims to access to justice, demonstrate the need to implement the existing international framework in this area. Access to justice should be considered as an essential part of the objectives of future legal instruments and a priority for States, and essential to their obligations to respect, protect and fulfill Human Rights. In this perspective, we could evaluate the motion of establishing a forum necessitates, an exceptional mechanism, created to aware the international community about the growing impunity that in particular multinational companies seem to enjoy. Such forum would also allow States to intervene in an actio popularis manner, thereby fulfilling international obligations in defense of the fundamental interests of that community. [Full paper available in Spanish only]