[DOC] What are the commonalities and distinctions between ‘due diligence’ and the ‘tort of negligence’? How can they apply to a business and human rights context?
Author: Max North, King's College London, Published on: 1 April 2010
In this piece I would like to discuss two concepts in an attempt to see how suitable they would be for companies to prevent their involvement in future human rights violations whilst as a consequence reducing their liabilities in law. The first [is] due diligence...The second concept for comparison is the tort of negligence...In the 2008 report Ruggie states that a basic human rights due diligence process should include policies, impact assessments, integration and tracking performance...Therefore in order for a company directly operating in an area to decide whether it owes a duty of care for actions that infringe an individual’s human rights it must ask if there is a practical link between the human right that is affected with an act that causes tortious liability…At the most fundamental level, the tort of negligence and human rights due diligence differ in their aims and purposes.