June 2018 – CPIJ Researcher Penelope Simons led the Canadian research contribution to the second phase of the UN High Commissioner for Human Right’s Accountability and Remedy Project. This project surveyed State-based non-judicial mechanisms (NJMs) that provide redress for human rights complaints against businesses. Prof. Simons and student researcher Christopher Plecash assessed 22 different national and provincial public bodies responsible for receiving, investigating, and mediating grievances against companies. The purpose of the three-part project is to improve accountability and access to remedies involving business-related human rights abuses. The second phase looks at how NJMs are incorporated into the wider legal systems of different countries, and assesses the capacity for NJMs to work across borders on human rights issues. The final report for Project II will be submitted and presented at the Human Rights Council’s thirty-eighth session in June 2018.
