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This is a one-day event on the theme of human-rights and non-state actors. It combines specialist panels throughout the day and an evening panel discussion intended for a general audience.

The focus of the discussion will be on the role of non-state actors – in particular, international organizations, human rights tribunals (courts and treaty bodies), corporations, and non-governmental organizations – in human rights law and policy. One of the notable features of the contemporary human rights scene is that the statist assumption – that human rights obligations fall exclusively or predominantly on states – has increasingly come under strain due to phenomema such as economic globalization, failed states, the emergence of powerful corporations operating across borders, and populist and authoritarian movements hostile to human rights. This means that more of the burden of ensuring compliance with human rights shifts to non-state actors. But thinking about the proper relationship between these various non-state actors and human rights is still at a comparatively early stage. This forum aims to shed light on this relationship by generating a dialogue among some of the leading figures in the field of human rights.

Among the questions to be addressed in the forum are the following:

Can non-state actors help define human rights obligations and enhance the incentives of states to comply with them?

Do the various kinds of non-state actors, such as international organizations and corporations, bear human rights obligations themselves? If so, do they differ in content from the obligations that apply to states?

To what extent do non-state actors pose a threat to human rights? How can these threats be minimized?

How can the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights be made more effective and their reach more extensive, e.g. investment decisions.

Should the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights be superseded by a multilateral treaty?

What are the main challenges confronting NGOs today in the pursuit of their goals with respect to human rights?

How can NGOs achieve a better balance between international and national human rights activism?

How should conflict among non-state actors regarding human rights best be resolved?

Main speakers:

Dr Anna Neistat, Senior Director for Research, Amnesty International

Professor Gerald Neuman, J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor International, Foreign, and Comparative Law, and Co-Director of the Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School.

Professor John G. Ruggie, Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, and Faculty Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative.

Commentators / Chairs:

Professor Stephen Hopgood, School of Law, SOAS

Ms Rae Lindsay, Clifford Chance

Mr Guillaume Long, formerly Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ecuador

Professor Robert McCorquodale, University of Nottingham

Ms Jennifer Robinson, Doughty Street Chambers

Professor John Tasioulas, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

Professor Guglielmo Verdirame, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

Dr Philippa Webb, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London

Chair of Evening Panel:

Ms Bridget Kendall, Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge and formerly BBC Moscow and Washington correspondent.

Schedule

Venue: River Room

10.00-11.30: International Organizations: Main speaker: Prof. Gerald Neuman (Harvard); Commentators (5-10 mins): Prof. Guglielmo Verdirame (KCL) and Dr Philippa Webb (KCL). Chair: Prof. John Tasioulas (KCL)

11.45-1.15: Corporations: Main speaker: Prof. John Ruggie (Harvard). Commentators: Guillaume Long, Rae Lindsay (Clifford Chance). Chair: Prof. Robert McCorquodale (University of Nottingham)

1.15-2.30: Lunch

2.30-4.00: NGOs: Main Speaker: Dr. Anna Neistat (Amnesty International). Commentators: Prof. Stephen Hopgood (SOAS) and Jennifer Robinson (Doughty Street Chambers). Chair: Dr. Philippa Webb (KCL)

Venue: Safra Lecture Theatre

6.00-7.30: Evening Panel. Panellists: Guillaume Long, Gerald Neuman, Anna Neistat, John Ruggie Chair: Bridget Kendall (Master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge).

Attendance to the whole event is not compulsory.