Definition
System where only those who have explicitly indicated that they want to participate are included.
System where everyone who has suffered the collective damage is included and only those who explicitly choose not to belong in this group are out.
Definition
Access
A human right which aims to ensure that individuals can seek and obtain effective remedies when their rights are violated, through transparent, independent and impartial legal processes.
A process or instrument designed to ensure that a person or entity is held accountable for their actions, provides answers to those affected and can be evaluated against defined standards. Such mechanisms may operate through legal (for example, judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings) or non-legal means (for example, OLGMs), with the aim of addressing deficient conduct or decision-making and fostering compliance with expected norms.
A process that allows for the out of court settlement of complaints, whether with the intervention of a third party, mandatory or not, and possibly a legal dispute resolution or more a conflict resolution.
An assurance engagement is a (mandatory or voluntary) check of sustainability information disclosed by a company. Assurance on sustainability reporting can be provided via either a limited or reasonable assurance engagement. In a limited assurance engagement, the primary focus is on understanding the process used to compile the reported information and to identify areas where a material misstatement may occur. If the practitioner identifies a potential material misstatement, additional work is performed to obtain limited assurance. The primary difference between limited and reasonable assurance lies in the work effort undertaken by the assurance provider. In a limited assurance engagement, practitioners undertake fewer procedures and require less evidence to draw their conclusion than in a reasonable assurance engagement.
Definition
If a fact is a necessary condition for the damage to occur as it did, given the specific circumstances in which it happened.
A legal action that is organized by a group of people who all have the same legal problem.
A set of rules that must be followed by members of an organisation and which express the standards that govern the organisation’s conduct and convey its commitment to responsible practice.
Measures to reimburse for harm that can be economically assessed. For example, for physical or mental harm, loss of earnings…
Alternative compensation mechanisms consisting of a separate capital, with or without legal personality, whose purpose is to award compensation or financial redress to victims for serious events.
A procedure during pending litigation in which the judge acts as a mediator and attempts to reconcile the parties in a voluntary and confidential manner to reach an agreement that is subsequently authenticated.
A conflict between the private or company interests and the official responsibilities of someone in a position of trust.
Areas identified by the presence of armed conflict, widespread violence, or other risks of harm to people. Armed conflict may take a variety of forms, such as a conflict of international or non-international character, which may involve two or more States, or may consist of wars of liberation, or insurgencies, civil wars, localised armed conflict, etc. High-risk areas may include areas of political instability or repression, institutional weakness, insecurity, collapse of civil infrastructure and widespread violence. Such areas are often characterised by widespread human rights abuses and violations of national or international law.
A situation of alleged business-related human rights harms where the relevant facts, actors or evidence needed to prove a case are in more than one State.
Definition
The legal right to be treated fairly, non-arbitrarily and equally.
Definition
A declaration of enforceability (exequatur) that is sometimes needed to have a foreign judgment enforced.
This refers to the assertion of power by a State, through various legal, regulatory or judicial mechanisms, to prescribe, adjudicate or enforce laws with respect to actors or activities outside its own territory.
Definition
The emergency possibility to bring a cause before a state’s courts where this would otherwise result in a denial of justice.
Definition
A Global Framework Agreement (GFA) is a negotiated agreement between a multinational company and a global union federation, aiming to establish common standards for workers' rights, health and safety, and environmental practices across all of the company's operations worldwide, and possibly its supply chain. These agreements establish an ongoing relationship, promoting respect for fundamental labor rights like freedom of association and collective bargaining, even where national laws are weaker. GFAs are tools that provide a global platform for unions to resolve disputes and ensure fair treatment for workers in all countries where the company operates.
Any routinized process, whether state-based or non-state-based, and whether judicial or non-judicial, through which perceived injustices concerning business-related human rights abuse can be raised and remedy can be sought
Measures to avoid the recurrence of similar harms in the future. For example, injunctions, changes to laws, corporate practices and policies…
Definition
In order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts, business enterprises should carry out human rights due diligence. The process should include assessing actual and potential human rights impacts, integrating and acting upon the findings, tracking responses, and communicating how impacts are addressed.
In the business context, HRIA can be defined as a process for identifying, understanding, assessing and addressing the adverse effects of a business 8 project or business activities on the human rights enjoyment of impacted rightsholders such as workers and community member
Definition
A court-ordered remedy which restricts a party from committing specific actions or requires a party to complete specific actions to prevent irreparable harm from occurring.
Measures urgently adopted before a final decision is made to avoid serious and irreparable harm from occurring, without prejudicing the outcome of the procedure.
Measures urgently adopted before a final decision is made to avoid serious and irreparable harm from occurring, without prejudicing the outcome of the procedure.
A judge of the court of first instance who is specifically appointed to conduct judicial investigations, i.e. to carry out all investigative actions necessary to identify the perpetrators of crimes, gather evidence and take measures to bring the case to court if necessary. He investigates both incriminating and exculpatory evidence.
Definition
The competence of a court or official organization to hear certain kinds of cases and make decisions and judgments.
Definition
Financial support for victims without financial means to pay for judicial or non-judicial proceedings.
Definition
Subject matter jurisdiction that gives a court the competence to adjudicate cases regarding a particular type of matter.
In the context of sustainability reporting, materiality means that information is relevant enough to be included in a sustainability report. Information may be material from different perspectives:
* Financial materiality means that a sustainability matter is material if it triggers or could reasonably be expected to trigger material financial effects on the undertaking.
* Impact materiality means that a sustainability matter is material if the undertaking is connected with actual or potential, positive or negative, impacts on people or the environment over the short-, medium- or long-term
* Double materiality means that a sustainability matter is material both from a financial and an impact perspective.
A confidential and structured process of voluntary consultation between conflicting parties with the cooperation of an independent, neutral and impartial third party who facilitates communication and attempts to get the parties to work out a solution themselves.
Definition
An independent official that has been appointed to investigate complaints against government officials and agencies, with an aim to mediate and advise to remedy the improper functioning of the government.
A company-level or site-level channel that allows affected individuals or communities to raise concerns and seek remedy directly with the business, ideally at an early stage, in a way that complements (but never replaces) judicial or state-based remedies.
A formalized means at the level of an organisation or sector through which individuals or groups can raise concerns about the impact an enterprise has on them and can seek remedy.
Definition
The official act of the bailiff in which he notifies the debtor (or a third party) that certain assets of the debtor will be used to settle the debt and specifies which assets these are, before the actual enforcement can take place.
The process by which public authorities purchase work, goods and services from companies.
Definition
The processes of providing remedy for an adverse human rights impact and their substantive outcomes to counteract that adverse impact.
The act of redressing or repairing human rights harms, as the outcome of the remediation process.
Measures to restore an affected person or group to their original situation before the harm occurred. For example, restoration of employment, return of property…
The beneficiary of the rights that are recognized in international human rights law, in principle individuals and sometimes communities. Where human rights are (at risk of) being adversely impacted, this will overlap with (potentially) affected stakeholder.
Definition
Strategic lawsuits aimed at silencing or intimidating public participation.
Under EU accounting and reporting rules, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are those with fewer than 250 employees and either a turnover of up to €50 million or a balance sheet total of up to €43 million. Large companies exceed these limits, with more than 250 employees and a turnover above €50 million or a balance sheet total above €43 million.
A stakeholder of a business is any individual or community who may affect or be affected by that business enterprise’s operations, products or services, including through business relationships. It may also refer to others involved in representing the interests of such individuals or communities, such as human rights defenders, trade unions or civil society organizations.
To have the right to bring legal action and/or to initiate a complaint-handling or dispute resolution process.
An administrative body empowered to investigate compliance with certain legislation, impose sanctions and order corrective measures.
Definition
A judge is only competent to rule on cases within the boundaries of a specific territory.
A civil legal action where a plaintiff seeks damages from a defendant who caused harm through a wrongful act, such as negligence, an intentional act or based on a strict liability regime.
Definition
A specific form of extraterritorial jurisdiction that allows for the prosecution of perpetrators of serious human rights violations without any of the usual connecting factors being present in the State concerned (for example, the perpetrator is not a national of that state and the crime is committed elsewhere).
Definition
A value chain of a business enterprise refers to the activities, operations and business relationships relevant to the production, supply and distribution of products and/or the provision of services by that business enterprise, both upstream and downstream.
Persons who have suffered harm (individually or collectively) because of human rights abuses of violations, both directly and through relationships with those directly affected (such as immediate family and dependants).
Private standards that require products to meet specific economic, social and environmental sustainability metrics. The requirements can refer to product quality or attributes, but also to production and processing methods, as well as transportation. VSS are mostly designed and marketed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or private firms and they are adopted by actors up- and down-stream of the value chain, from farmers to retailers. Certifications and labels are used to signal the successful implementation of VSS.
Definition
Persons who detect infringements in the context of a working relationship and who report those infringements.
Worker-Driven Social Responsibility (WSR) is a paradigm for protecting and enforcing the human rights of workers in global supply chains. It is based on legally binding agreements between companies and worker organizations, in which the latter play a leading role in designing, monitoring, and enforcing workplace standards. Unlike corporate-led social responsibility approaches, WSR places workers and their representatives at the center of compliance efforts, ensuring accountability through market consequences for violations.