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Beyond Social License
The Legal Implications of the Guiding Principles
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Overview: the path beyond
• Summary of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• Legal implications of the Principles• Beyond “Social License” to “Just License”• Practical steps to mitigate legal risk
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Background to the Principles
• Why needed?• Two dimensions of human rights: (1) legal definition;
(2) institution.• Historically, institution was the state. Responsibility
based on control over territory.• Principles provide comprehensive and coherent basis
to apply responsibility to business.
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Understanding the Principles
• Three core (legal) concepts:– Scope• All human rights; legal definitions.
– Causation• Cause or contribute to; directly linked to.
– Proportionality• Response expected turns on context.
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Practical implications
• Three core concepts ensure Principles are:– Broad • All internationally recognized human rights—no subset.
– Practical• Narrow focus based on causation.
• Prioritize by impact.
• Respond based on operating context.
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Principles as source of legal risks
• Principles’ objective and comprehensive framework creates new type of human rights risk for business: legal risk. – Bilateral Investment Treaty– Financing agreements– Home state litigation
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Beyond Social License to Just License
• Social license still essential but insufficient. Need to protect against governments, lenders, domestic courts.
• Need justified social license to mitigate both dimensions of human rights risk.
• Principles underpin legal risk but also provide framework for legal risk mitigation.
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New risk, new risk mitigation
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Acquiring Just License in practice
• Progressive and principled narrowing: justified and practical
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Implications of the Principles
• Create fundamentally different risk—objective and significant legal risk.
• Opportunity for business to mitigate risk proactively and coherently.
• Legal concepts provide framework for engagement and practical due diligence and response.
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Human rights are serious business. Respond efficiently.
Yousuf AftabPrincipal
[email protected]+1.917.688.9570