IBA publishes business and human rights guidance
The second edition of the IBA business and human-rights guidance for bar associations has been published.
Unanimously adopted by the IBA Council during the IBA annual conference in Mexico City in September, the publication follows initial guidance issued in 2015.
It reflects the increasing integration of the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) into hard and soft law around the world.
This includes human-rights and environmental due-diligence regulations, and the integration of business human-rights considerations in judicial and non-judicial decisions.
Critical role
The IBA said that bar associations and law societies could play a critical role in assisting lawyers and law firms to address the challenges and opportunities posed by these developments.
The new document complements the publication of Updated IBA Guidance Note on Business and Human Rights: The role of lawyers in the changing landscape in November 2023.
The updated guidance provides a roadmap of actions for applying the UNGPs in legal practice, including:
- Developing a strategy for engaging with members on business human-rights issues,
- Promoting, participating in, and establishing educational programmes,
- Increasing lawyers’ awareness of ethical considerations associated with business human rights,
- Providing technical assistance and guidance to help strengthen lawyers’ institutional and individual capacity to adopt effective business human-rights practices, and
- Involving the legal profession in work to integrate business and human-rights principles in domestic policy and legislation.
John Sherman, former senior legal counsel to Professor John Ruggie, author of the UNGPs, and member of the drafting groups, commented that IBA guidance for lawyers and bar associations had proven influential in jurisdictions across the globe.
“Two months ago, the American Bar Association (ABA) adopted Resolution 604, which builds upon and draws from the IBA’s 2023 Updated Lawyers' Guidance.
“Through this resolution, the ABA joins the IBA in urging lawyers and law firms to avoid causing or contributing to adverse human-rights impacts in representing business clients by understanding whether business clients are likely to use legal advice and services to abuse human rights, and by counselling their clients on the hard and soft law of business and human rights,” he said.
“The ABA resolution is an example of precisely the kind of convergence by the profession on the need for lawyers to practice law with respect for human rights that the updated bar guidance is intended to foster.”