Corporate responsibility
Non-judicial remedies in Norway for corporate social responsibility abroad: a discussion paper
Why should non-judicial remedies be state-based?
Authors:
M. Marmorat
Publisher:
Institute for Applied International Studies, Norway, 2009
This discussion paper is intended to provide an overview of and insight into the main trends of policy work and research on state-based non-judicial mechanisms. The paper should serve as a background for public policy discussion of non-judicial mechanisms in Norway. It focuses on some models and practices adopted by non-judicial mechanisms that engage directly with corporations in an effort to assess and resolve complaints relevant to corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues.
The paper indicates that there is a significant amount of policy and practices upon which to base the design of a non-judicial remedy mechanism for Norway. Moreover, it figures that there is common consensus that such a remedy mechanism should meet certain basic criteria. It should be incident-based; that is, it should respond to complaints about things that have happened (harms) or behaviours that has fallen short of an established standard. In addition, it should operate in a legitimate, accessible, equitable, predictable, transparent and compatible-with-international-rights way.
To demonstrate, the paper suggests a number of functions which a non-judicial remedy might adopt:
- information facilitation
- negotiation
- mediation/conciliation
- conducting investigation
- adjudication
Equally important, the paper emphasises that remedies should be state-based to have them active and effective. The paper notes that the state has the convening power to ensure the national level engagement of all social actors in the design and implementations of remedies.
