Human Rights Speaker Series - The Expanding Scope and Regulation of Business and Human Rights

Please join us for the next instalment of the Human Rights Speaker Series.

The Expanding Scope and Regulation of Business and Human Rights

Since the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, the scope and regulation of business and human rights has expanded. This talk will discuss how adverse human rights impacts of businesses now include environmental and climate change damage, and that industry sectors, such as financial institutions, are also now included in its scope.

It will also examine how, at the same time, the development of legislation and other regulations, as well as legal cases, has meant that the "smart mix" expected of the UNGPs has become more focused. What this means for future developments in business and human rights will also be considered.

Speaker:

Robert McCorquodale is a member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, a five-member group of independent experts. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the University of Nottingham, UK, and a barrister and mediator at Brick Court Chambers, London. He has an LLB and BEc from the University of Sydney, Australia, and an LLM and PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Robert has 30 years of experience working in business and human rights. He published widely in this area, including by empirical research, and his most recent book is Business and Human Rights (OUP, 2024). He has advised business of all sizes and assisted governments around the world, and has been involved with civil society, industry sectors and other organisations in drafting legal changes and in litigation. His work has included capacity building, legislative proposals and training, as well as interviewing and qualitative research. He has appeared as an advocate before the International Court of Justice and the United Kingdom Supreme Court.

Chair:

Dr Anil Yilmaz Vastardis is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Postgraduate Research at Essex Law School and Human Rights Centre. She has been serving as the Co-Director of the Essex Business and Human Rights Project since 2015. Her research expertise focuses on business and human rights and international investment law. Her research bridges the gap between corporate law, international investment law, human rights law, and tort law, examining how these areas can and should interact so as to operationalise human rights standards in the modern business context.

Anil has published works in leading international law journals and edited collections on parent-subsidiary relationships in the business and human rights context, non-financial reporting, duty of care in supply chain relationships, human rights in investment contracts and the embedded inequalities in the investment treaty regime. She is one of the co-founders of the IEL Collective and sits on the governance committee of the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum.