Effectiveness Framework for Home-State Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms

Chapter in Amissi M. Manirabona & Yenny Vega Cardenas, eds, Extractive Industries and Human Rights in an Era of Global Justice: New Ways of Resolving and Preventing Conflicts (LexisNexis, 2019)

26 Pages Posted: 3 Jan 2019 Last revised: 7 Apr 2019

See all articles by Charis Kamphuis

Charis Kamphuis

Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University

Leah Gardner

McGill University - Faculty of Law

Date Written: April 2019

Abstract

After more than fifteen years of public debate, law reform proposals and pressure from international human rights bodies, the Canadian government announced in early 2018 that it intends to create the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE). While the CORE mechanism is still in the developmental phase, it is expected that it will have the power to independently investigate allegations of human rights violations against Canadian companies operating abroad in the natural resources and garment sectors. As such, it will be the first home-state non-judicial grievance mechanism of its kind in the world. However, the concept of such a mechanism is not new, but has in fact been the subject of discussion among international human rights institutions for at least ten years, including with significant commentary on the Canadian context. This chapter complies and analyzes existing statements of public international law with respect to these kinds of mechanisms. It then identifies points of consensus and argues that there is an emerging consensus with respect to the principles that such mechanisms should abide by in order to ensure their effectiveness and legitimacy. This analysis will be of significant interest to those in Canada who are working to ensure that the CORE will provide an effective remedy for affected individuals and groups, and to others around the world who hope to create similar mechanisms.

Keywords: extractive industries, human rights, extra-territorial regulation, home-state regulation, public international law

JEL Classification: K33, K40

Suggested Citation

Kamphuis, Charis and Gardner, Leah, Effectiveness Framework for Home-State Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms (April 2019). Chapter in Amissi M. Manirabona & Yenny Vega Cardenas, eds, Extractive Industries and Human Rights in an Era of Global Justice: New Ways of Resolving and Preventing Conflicts (LexisNexis, 2019), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3302863

Charis Kamphuis (Contact Author)

Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University ( email )

805 TRU Way
Old Main Building Room 4743
Kamloops, British Columbia M3J 1P3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.tru.ca/law/faculty-staff/faculty/charis-kamphuis.html

Leah Gardner

McGill University - Faculty of Law ( email )

3644 Peel Street
Montreal H3A 1W9, Quebec H3A 1W9
Canada

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