2025 Business and Human Rights Forum Annual Conference

Event Details

The 2025 Business and Human Rights Forum Annual Conference will explore the increasingly complex and fragmented legal landscape that shapes corporate responsibilities for human rights and the environment. It will examine both conflicting and complementary legal regimes across jurisdictions, with a focus on jurisdictional tensions, enforcement challenges, and the expanding reach of domestic and supranational instruments.

Key themes include the influence of evolving international climate jurisprudence on corporate human rights expectations, how the growing body of business and human rights regulation and enforcement confronts the conflict of laws doctrine, the risk of fragmented liability under the CSDDD, the UK's implementation of business and human rights regulation forced labour import bans, and the potential of a 'failure to prevent' model. These complementary frameworks are reshaping how transnational companies implement due diligence and how governments enforce regulation, often resulting in legal uncertainty, contradictory obligations, and strategic litigation practices

The Business and Human Rights Forum (formerly the 'HRDD Forum'), founded in 2018, is a leading membership-based platform for legal practitioners, academics, policymakers, and other experts working at the intersection of business and human rights.

This event is convened by Dr Irene Pietropaoli, Senior Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights and Director of the Business and Human Rights Forum, British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL).

Please note: this is an in-person only event

Join in the conversation BlueSky #2025BHRForum

Programme 

13.00 - 13.30 | Registration with coffee & tea

13.30 - 14.00 | Welcome and Introduction
Dr Irene Pietropaoli, BIICL

14.00 - 14.30 | Keynote Address
Prof. Geert van Calster, KU Leuven

14.30 - 16.00 | Panel 1: Business and Human Rights: Global Trends

We will discuss challenges in transnational litigation and jurisdictional hurdles in business and human rights cases, how overlapping climate and environmental rules interface with HREDD and business accountability, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s recent Advisory Opinion on climate change and the impact on state regulation of non-state actors, the conflict of laws aspects of the proposed changes to the CSDDD, jurisdictional uncertainty, contradictory obligations, and the principle of forum non conveniens.

• Prof. Robert McCorquodale, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
• Prof. Veerle Heyvaert, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
• Dan Leader, Leigh Day
• Stephen Hockman KC, Six Pump Court
• Sudhanshu Swaroop KC, Twenty Essex
• Prof Annalisa Savaresi, University of Stirling
  
• Ivano Alogna, BIICL (Chair)

16.00 - 16.15 | Break

16.15 - 17.45 | Panel 2: Business and Human Rights: The UK

We will discuss the UK's implementation of business and human rights regulation, responsible business practices, developments in relation to modern slavery legislation and forced labour import bans, the potential of a 'failure to prevent' model to address corporate human rights and environmental harms, the proposed Business and Human rights Environmental Act and its public procurement dimension, and the influence of evolving international climate jurisprudence on corporate human rights expectations., UK Parliament

• The Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE, UK Parliament
• Eleanor Lyons, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
  
• George Foster, Office for Responsible Business Conduct
  
• Prof. Olga Martin-Ortega, University of Greenwich
• Julianne Hughes-Jennett, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
• Luise Schroter, Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC)
• Aladdin Benali, Omnia Strategy
• Dr Irene Pietropaoli, BIICL (Chair)

17.45 - 18.00 | Closing Remarks

18.00 - 18.30 | Drinks Reception

*This programme is subject to change

Pricing and Registration 

The event is free of charge for members of the Business and Human Rights Forum. Free of charge bookings can be made by emailing the Events Team.

For other attendees, the following charges apply:

BIICL Member: £75 | Non-member: £125

REGISTER HERE