Short Course: Business and Human Rights 

Course Details

Business and human rights is an area of international human rights law in continuous development at the international and national levels. On successful completion of BIICL's Business and Human Rights course participants will:

• Understand the human rights and environmental impacts resulting from business activities
• Be aware of the core concepts and principles established by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other standards such as the newly updated OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
• Understand corporate human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) requirements and developments at the international, regional, and national levels - including new mandatory HREDD laws and proposals at the EU level
• Understand the context of business and human rights as a field of work
• During the course participants will consider recent examples of business and human rights issues, including case law
• Participants will also consider the intersection on business and human rights with other developing issues such as Artificial Intelligence and climate change.
  

Course topics:

• The business and human rights framework
• Developments at the international level
• EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
• National level HREDD laws
• Case law relating to corporate liability for human rights and environmental harms
  
• Business and human rights in practice
  
• Climate change litigation
  
• Modern slavery and forced labour
  

Download the programme   

Course trainers:

• Dr. Irene Pietropaoli, Senior Fellow in Business and Human Rights, BIICL
• Jasmine Elliott, Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights, BIICL
• Vicky Bowman, Director of Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) and Honorary Senior Fellow, BIICL Research Leader in Business, ESG & Modern Slavery, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, BIICL
• Dr. Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga, Research Leader in Business, ESG & Modern Slavery, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, BIICL
  

Who is the course for?

The course is for a wide range of professionals interested in business and human rights, including in-house counsel, legal practitioners, NGO representatives, government representatives, academics, PhD students and other professionals.

Testimonials from past attendees

"Fantastic course! High-level content was delivered in a clear, interesting and engaging way. Fascinating discussions occurred in every session and helpful resources shared throughout."
"Fabulous course, excellently structured and presented, with plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion."
"Very relevant - new developments referred to throughout whole course."

Training scholarships

We are delighted to be able to offer scholarships designed to enable individuals from communities currently under-represented in the legal field to access our world-class courses and benefit from unparalleled learning experiences.

Scholarships are aimed at 3 categories: individuals from communities and backgrounds that are under-represented in the legal field in the UK and abroad; individuals who have recently received a needs-based bursary from their university or further-education college and representatives from Small Charities, NGOs, and Community-Based Organisations.

Applications for training scholarships must be received at least three weeks ahead of the course start date (15 September 2025). Applications must be made via the online form and applications received via any other means will not be considered.

Find out more and apply for a scholarship here 

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