LW922-7-AU-CO:
Business and Human Rights

PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
The details
2023/24
Essex Law School
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Inactive
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
31 March 2021

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

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Key module for

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Module description

This module is designed to look closely at the intersection among principles regulating human rights and related environmental interests on the one hand, and those regulating multinational commercial interests on the other. It will particularly highlight the contrast between the principles underlying commercial activity and the constraints of social and environmental justice.

The module focuses on the human rights responsibilities of private companies as well as those of the public and private institutions providing finance for projects aimed at development in various parts of the world. Throughout it examines the clash and complementarity between the core objectives of these institutions and the demands of human rights protection and the environmental sustainability. The tension between the public-private divide will be specifically addressed.

The module begins with a look at foundation principles in ethics that inform current views of corporate social responsibility. This is followed by a consideration of the applicability of the principles of international law to non-state actors involved in the economy.

From there, attention turns to the responsibilities of multinational corporations and international financial institutions including the World Bank's International Finance Corporation; the private banks grouped together via the Equator Principles; and export credit agencies. This is followed by an examination of international instruments and mechanisms, public and private; voluntary and legally binding, which are specifically addressed to corporate behaviour. This includes The OECD Guidelines; the ILO Tripartite Declaration; the Draft UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and the UN's Global Compact.

Module aims

This module is designed give students enough grounding to enable them to engage further subjects in this rapidly growing area as and when they choose to pursue them. There is a growing demand from public and private bodies for those with an understanding of these issues

Module learning outcomes

The module looks closely at the links between law and policy regulating human rights concerns on the one hand, and interests of commercial business – national and multinational - on the other. These two concerns – those of private business and those of human rights standards – are beginning to interact, having previously moved along separate tracks. The interaction is prompted by the increasing awareness of the fact that private companies exercise a degree of power that often goes well beyond that of the states in which they operate. This power of private enterprise can yield social gains. Some of these improvements satisfy the dynamic requirements of human rights. At the same time, however, the projects undertaken might involve abuses. Examples cover a wide range, including the large-scale displacement of local populations for infrastructure or agricultural projects, commercial practices that invade consumer privacy, or abuses of the labour force.

Module information

Please note that LW917 Trade, Investment, and Human Rights is different in its coverage from LW 922 Business and Human Rights. LW 917 is primarily focused on the role of governments in trade and investment relations, whereas LW922 focuses on the human rights and environmental impacts of the private commercial corporation, of private lending banks, and of the World Bank, as well as the international norms designed to regulate these bodies.

In addition, students will be invited to work on one or more of the practical projects undertaken by the Essex Business and Human Rights Project (EBHR)

Learning and teaching methods

Each weekly session will be composed of approximately half lecture, half discussion The seminars aim to illustrate general policy considerations by working with concrete examples of corporate activity, testing them against the principles developed in the first part. It looks at problems of dividing responsibility for human rights and environmental concerns between host governments and private companies; at the impact corporate activity can have on policy choices by host governments; as well as at problems of corporate complicity with human rights abuses by host states. It considers cases in both national and international courts as well as investor-state arbitration. Examples of cases are drawn from the recent work of the Essex Business and Human Rights Project (EBHR) http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebhr/. Students will have the possibility of involvement in the work of EBHR. Visiting Speakers: Speakers, mostly from various areas of practice, will come to Essex to share their views and knowledge on different issues related to Business and Human Rights. Students will be told in advance of the dates and times for these talks. They are not compulsory but the team considers that they are important tools to complement and expand the knowledge and views of the class.

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Tara Van Ho, email: tara.vanho@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Tara Van Ho, Dr Anil Yilmaz Vastardis
lawpgtadmin@essex.ac.uk

 

Availability
Yes
No
Yes

External examiner

Dr Titilayo Adebola
University of Aberdeen
Lecturer in Law
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 882 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
882 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).

 

Further information
Essex Law School

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