Corporations are all too often not directly liable for human rights violations they cause or that they are complicit in. They benefit from impunity as long as their behaviour is approved by the state of which the contested corporate activity took place. Furthermore, multinational enterprises normally consist of many separate legal persons. The twin concept of separate legal personality and limitations on their liability shields parent companies (and their directors) from being liable for misconduct of their subsidiaries and contractors unless they take active role in managing these subsidiaries at the operational level. Regulation and a change in corporate culture is required to ensure corporations fulfil their environmental and human rights obligations. ECCJ therefore considers as a priority the following changes to the EU legal framework:
Companies operating within the jurisdictions of EU Member States shall have a duty of care not to commit or be complicit in human rights abuses.
Companies operating within the jurisdictions of EU Member States shall have a duty of care to prevent and mitigate human rights abuses in their sphere of responsibility, which includes their subsidiaries and commercial partners, owed to potential victims of such abuses.
Directors and responsible corporate officers shall be liable for that their corporations don’t breach the liabilities imposed on them by the measures described above, as well as for their own compliance.