Key Tools for Legal Accountability
A compilation of key resources to provide support for lawyers on corporate legal accountability issues, including the application of the UNGPs.
The following compilation of resources aims to provide guidance for lawyers on corporate legal accountability issues, including the practical application of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Communities
Resources for pre-litigation
- Transnational Legal Activism in Global Value Chains - The Ali Enterprises Factory Fire and the Struggle for Justice, Miriam Saage-MaaßPeer ZumbansenMichael BaderPalvasha Shahab, Jul 2021
- Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses a Guide for Victims and NGOs on Recourse Mechanisms, Jun 2021 - International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- The Accountability Resource Guide, April 2012 - Accountability Counsel
- Injustice incorporated: Corporate Abuses and the Human Right to Remedy, March 2014 - Amnesty International
- Holding UK companies to account in the English courts for harming people in other countries, Aug 2016 - CORE Coalition & London Mining Network
- Human rights in European Business. A practical handbook for civil society organisations and human rights defenders - Human Rights in Business
- The Third Pillar: Access to Judicial Remedies for Human Rights Violations by Transitional Business, Dec 2013 International - Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR), CORE Coalition & European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ)
- Opportunities for Justice - Canadian Centre for International Justice
- Legal tools for citizen empowerment - International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
- How to pay for legal empowerment: alternative structures and sources - Open Society Justice Initiative
- Practice Guide for Environmental Justice Paralegals, 2017 - Centre for Policy Research & Namati Environmental Justice Program
- Handbook on Legal and Administrative Remedies for Community Level Environment Justice Practitioners in India, 2016-2017 - Centre for Policy Research-Namati Environmental Justice
- Midcourse Manoeuvres: Community Strategies and Remedies for Natural Resource Conflicts in India, Indonesia and Myanmar, 2018 - Centre for Policy Research (CPR) & Namati Environmental Justice Program
- Business and Human Rights: A handbook for legal practitioners, Claire Methven O’Brien, Danish Institute for Human Rights, for the Council of Europe, May 2019
- Tool on Children's Right to Health and Business: Unpacking the Human Rights Due Diligence Standard, Ana Dangova Hug, Inter Parties, May 2020
Resources during litigation
- Justice Defenders Programme with option to request assistance/refer cases - American Bar Association's Center for Human Rights (ABA)
- UK: Training materials on litigation & access to information in cases of corporate abuse, Jul 2015 - CORE Coalition & Leigh Day
- Foreign Legal Assistance Guide: A guide for using US courts to obtain information for foreign legal cases - EarthRights International & Corporate Accountability (updated, April 2020)
- Human rights in European Business. A practical handbook for civil society organisations and human rights defenders. Sep 2016 - Human Rights in Business
Companies
Global (International tools)
ADVOCATES FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (A4ID)
CANADIAN BAR ASSOCIATION
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
EUROPEAN BARS FEDERATION
INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION (IBA)
- Updated IBA Guidance Note on Business and Human Rights: The role of lawyers in the changing landscape, December 2023
- Handbook for lawyers on business and human rights, Jul 2017
- Reference Annex to the IBA Practical Guide on Business and Human Rights for Business Lawyers, Nov 2016
- IBA Practical Guide on Business and Human Rights for Business Lawyers, Jun 2016
- Business and Human Rights Guidance for Bar Associations, Oct 2014
LAW FIRM BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS PEER LEARNING PROCESS
SHIFT PROJECT
- What Do Human Rights Have to Do With Mergers and Acquisitions?, Anna Triponel, Jan 2016
- Six Reasons Why Lawyers Should Practice Law with Respect for Human Rights, John F. Sherman, Nov 2013
- Professional Responsibility of Lawyers under the Guiding Principles, John F. Sherman, Apr 2012
SIMMONS & SIMMONS LLP
- Rule of law and land rights, Olga Hancock & Richard Dyton, Feb 2016
- [Video] The Risk of Ruggie: Corporate and Compliance, Chris Owen, Victoria Channing & Charles Mayo, Nov 2015
UN GLOBAL COMPACT & LINKLATERS
Global Business Initiative & Clifford Chance
Australia
LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
- Business and Human Rights and the Australian Legal Profession, Jan 2016
- Business and Human Rights: Some Questions and Answers for Business Lawyers, Jan 2016
Norway
NORWEGIAN BAR ASSOCIATION
- Business and Human Rights for Lawyers, Feb 2018
Spain
FERNANDO POMBO FOUNDATION
- The Role of the Lawyer in Implementing the Ruggie Principles: 8 Good Practices For Corporate Lawyers, Mar 2019 (Available in Spanish: El papel del abogado en la implantación de los principios Ruggie: 8 buenas prácticas para abogados de negocio), Jul 2016
- The role of business lawyers in human rights compliance, May 2014
United Kingdom
LAW SOCIETY OF ENGLAND AND WALES
United States of America
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION'S CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (ABA)
