Tuesday, November 2, 2010

IntLawGrrls

IntLawGrrls

Developments in Kenya: Truth Commission Process Back On

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 02:02 PM PDT

On the eve of the resignation of our colleague Ron Slye from the Kenyan Truth, Justice & Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) (see prior posts here, here, and here), the former Chair of the Commission, Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat (left), has finally stepped down from the Commission to face allegations of potential conflicts of interest with the work of the TJRC. In addition, the Kenyan Chief Justice has finally established a five-person special tribunal in order to investigate these issues.

In light of these two developments, Professor Slye has withdrawn his resignation. In a statement, released today, he wrote:

The decision of the Chairman to step aside has restored some of my faith in the ability of the Commission to succeed. It is no means certain to me that it will. The lack of financial and other support to which I referred in my earlier statement still exists. I do believe, however, that with the Chairman's decision to step aside, there is the possibility that the Government of Kenya and others will step up and provide the Commission with much of the support that it needs.

It is for these reasons that I announce that I am withdrawing my intention to resign from the Commission. In so doing I do not mean to imply that the Commission has overcome all of the hurdles facing it. I do believe, however, that with the hard work and dedication of the remaining Commissioners and staff, the Commission has a fighting chance to fulfill the important mandate entrusted to it by the people of Kenya.

As lingering concerns, Professor Slye noted that the Kenyan government has still not provided the Commission with the resources it needs to accomplish its mandate. As such, he urged the government as well as the donor community and civil society to support the work of the TJRC, because

For it is only by facing squarely the misdeeds of the past that a future of respect for the rights of all Kenyans can be ensured.
Well said.

Guest Blogger: Natalie Bridgeman Fields

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 02:10 AM PDT

It's IntLawGrrls' great pleasure to welcome Natalie Bridgeman Fields (right) as today's guest blogger.
Natalie's the Executive Director of San Francisco-based Accountability Counsel, a legal nonprofit that she founded in 2009. The organization represents environmental and human rights of communities around the world by creating, strengthening, and using accountability systems. Its particular focus is on nonjudicial grievance procedures related to international finance and development. In her guest post below, she discusses one such mechanism, the U.S. National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises.
Having been graduated from Cornell University in 1999, Natalie received her J.D. in 2002 from UCLA, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs. While a law student she interned at the Center for International Environmental Law, served as a consultant to a World Bank inspection panel, and was a law clerk to a North American Free Trade Agreement arbiter. Immediately after law school she was a litigation associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, working on commercial cases and on Cabello v. Fernández-Larios, a pro bono Alien Tort Statute case. Since starting her own law firm, she has helped to litigate another ATS case, as well as the post-9/11 lawsuit captioned José Padilla v. John Yoo (additional prior post), both pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Along with Professor David B. Hunter, Natalie also co-teaches a course on International Institutions and Environmental Protection during the Environmental Law Summer Session at American University Washington College of Law.
Heartfelt welcome!

U.S. Contact Point & corporate accountability

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 01:00 AM PDT

(Many thanks to IntLawGrrls for the opportunity to contribute this guest post.)

Corporate accountability for environmental and human rights abuses abroad is often elusive.
As IntLawGrrls Rebecca Bratspies and Naomi Roht-Arriaza have posted (here and here), recent court rulings now limit the scope of the Alien Tort Claims Act in some jurisdictions, at least temporarily. Non-judicial, 'soft law' mechanisms thus have become even more important.
Among the latter accountability mechanisms is the U.S. National Contact Point, or NCP, an office of the Department of State created to take complaints regarding corporate compliance with the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprise issued in 2008 by OECD, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.
The United States is required to maintain the NCP to resolve disputes about the OECD Guidelines, which cover human rights, environmental, labor, and consumer issues, as well as other topics. Like other countries' NCPs, the U.S. office is tasked not only with assisting to resolve disputes about corporate compliance with the Guidelines, but also with issuing Final Statements about compliance at the end of the process. In the language of international financial institution accountability mechanisms, this gives NCPs both a problem-solving and compliance review function.
To date, the U.S. NCP has never assisted in the resolution of a single case. In contrast, as IntLawGrrl Christiana Ochoa has posted in other countries like the United Kingdom, NCPs have successfully participated in the resolution of major global issues. If transformed, the U.S. NCP could be a valuable tool for communities around the world. Among those communities are clients of my organization, Accountability Counsel, which represents persons harmed by U.S.-headquartered multinational enterprises.
Over the past year, Accountability Counsel has led a coalition of civil society groups to reform the U.S. NCP. Our direct talks spurred the office to published its rules of procedure. As we had anticipated, those rules:
► Fail to meet basic standards for transparency and independence;
► Lack details sufficient to result in a predictable process; and
► Are unlikely to lead to effective results.
The official State Department review is under way, with a new policy governing the U.S. NCP is expected sometime in 2011. In Washington, a public meeting will be held today, November 2, and comments on the U.S. NCP will be accepted at input@state.gov until this Friday, November 5.
Accountability Counsel already has submitted its comments to the State Department regarding suggestions for reform of the U.S. NCP. Based on our work with similar mechanisms at the World Bank Group, the regional development banks, and study of other NCPs, we demonstrated that key elements that are needed to bring this accountability mechanism to the 'best practice' level that civil society groups have worked decades to create. Our recommendations focus on:
► Increasing transparency;
► Setting timelines and rules of procedure;
► Providing for review of decisions; and
► Monitoring and enforcement in the event of a finding of non-compliance.
Accountability Counsel is also working on these issues as a member of the State Department's Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, which will issue a report with recommendations for reform. Similarly, our group has worked with the United Nations' Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie (prior IntLawGrrls posts), to create a page on the Business and Society Exploring Solutions site for the posting of comments and for debate about the U.S. NCP. The effort is aimed at improving transparency around this review.

On November 2

Posted: 01 Nov 2010 11:04 PM PDT

On this day in ...
... 1945 (65 years ago today), fewer than 6 months after World War II ended in Europe, and a little over a year after the Allies liberated Paris from the Nazis, a program for the protection of mothers and infants was established in France. A key component of la Protection maternelle et infantile, better known by its acronym PMI, was distribution of contraceptive pills. Administered through France's public service (logo above left), PMI today includes an array of services -- medical, midwifery, and social -- to pregnant women, to mothers, and to their children.

(Prior November 2 posts are here, here, and here.)
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