New BIICL report asks: Can businesses uphold human rights without breaking the law?
New research launched today by BIICL looks at the problems faced by businesses which have to comply with both national laws and international human rights standards - when these are in direct conflict.
The first in-depth analysis of this dilemma applicable across all industries, it seeks to provide a framework for business to approach these conflicts through human rights due diligence. The study is also the first to look at all types of such conflicts and across a range of human rights. Among the issues addressed are, freedom of expression, privacy, LGBTI rights, working conditions and discrimination.
Commissioned by BIICL's Business Network, the research brings together the international legal framework, existing guidance for specific issues or sectors, and practical examples of how businesses are managing such conflicts, taken from interviews with representatives of some companies facing these questions.
The resulting report categorises different types of conflict - to help businesses recognise what kind of dilemma they are facing - and sets out a range of approaches that business can take, from the narrowest compliance with national laws to stopping operations in that country entirely.
