Effectiveness Framework for Home-State Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms

After more than fifteen years of public debate, law reform proposals and pressure from international human rights bodies, the Canadian government announced in early 2018 that it intends to create the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE). While the CORE mechanism is still in the developmental phase, it is expected that it will have the power to independently investigate allegations of human rights violations against Canadian companies operating abroad in the natural resources and garment sectors. As such, it will be the first home-state non-judicial grievance mechanism of its kind in the world. However, the concept of such a mechanism is not new, but has in fact been the subject of discussion among international human rights institutions for at least ten years, including with significant commentary on the Canadian context. This chapter complies and analyzes existing statements of public international law with respect to these kinds of mechanisms. It then identifies points of consensus and argues that there is an emerging consensus with respect to the principles that such mechanisms should abide by in order to ensure their effectiveness and legitimacy. This analysis will be of significant interest to those in Canada who are working to ensure that the CORE will provide an effective remedy for affected individuals and groups, and to others around the world who hope to create similar mechanisms.