This document discusses business and human rights, specifically regarding UK overseas corporations. It begins by outlining the main principles of business and human rights, and who is obliged to implement them - the parent state, firm, or host state. It then provides a brief history of business and human rights. The document examines issues with UK companies abusing human rights due to lack of enforcement and remedies. While human rights can be regulated, there are barriers like funding and time. Empirical evidence from BP shows both voluntary implementation and failures. The conclusion recommends that regulation is not enough and all governments and firms must cooperate to implement human rights.

1. BUSINESS AND HUMAN
RIGHTS
UK Overseas Corporations and the Protection
of Human Rights
By: Majid Al-Bunni

2. MAIN QUESTIONS
 What are the main principles of Business and Human Rights?
 Who is obliged to implement these principles? The parent state,
the firm or the host state?
 Can Human Rights be regulated within the field of Business?
What are the main obstacles?
 Recommendations and conclusions.

3. HISTORY OF BUSINESS AND
HUMAN RIGHTS
 Deregulations and privatization in the late 1980’s
 Free trade ideology after the Cold War.
 The 21 century, Globalization and the Corporate agenda.
 Comparative advantage and the need for FDI in the developing countries.
 The issue of HR been questioned.
 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights ( Protect, Respect, and Remedy).

4. UK ON BUSINESS AND
HUMAN RIGHTS
 Abuses by UK companies of Human Rights because of:
• Lack of effective enforcement
• Lack of effective remedy
• Lack of clarity of CSR
 Governance gaps: no supranational legal system which provide for
effective regulation of multinationals.
 These abuses led to the need of regulating Human Rights.

5. CAN HUMAN RIGHTS BE
REGULATED!?
 The answer is YES! However, there are barriers that faces this
process:
• The problem of funding;
• Time;
• Enforce the host country to regulate as well
 It’s not a unilateral process, it needs the consensus and the
commitment of all parties.

6. EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE: BP
COMPANY
 Implementing HR voluntarily.
 BTC pipeline and the neglection of HR abuses remedies by UK (
failure of NPC).
 Energy supply in the first place.
 Agreements as a way of regulating.

7. RECOMMENDATIONS AND
CONCLUSION
 Regulation is not enough.
 Implementing HR is a mutual responsibility. Governments should
cooperate and firms should implement.
 Politicization puts a pressure to fill the global regulatory gap.
 Good HR records mean increasing worker productivity, good
community relationships, risk management and new customers and
market.

8. The End
Thanks for listening