On 15 July 2020, the Government of Luxembourg published an expert report on business and human rights prepared by our post-doctoral researcher Dr. Başak Bağlayan
The Government adopted its first National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP) on 22 June 2018. In the NAP, Luxembourg made several commitments, including the commissioning of a comprehensive baseline study that analyzes “[t]he existing situation and mapping of the potential negative impacts of business activities on human rights on one hand, and of existing efforts to prevent these risks or to mitigate their consequences on the other…”.
Dr. Başak Bağlayan had been asked to prepare this Study in February 2019.
The completed Study was submitted to the Government in October 2019 and was subsequently discussed with the Comité interministériel sur les droits de l’Homme and the Groupe de Travail Entreprises et droits de l’Homme on various occasions.
The report is the first study that assesses systematically all existing laws and policies that are relevant to business and human rights in Luxembourg as well as the international legal framework that applies to Luxembourg. The main objectives of the Study were: to identify and analyse gaps in legislation and policy that concern business and human rights; to identify business related human rights risks and impacts in Luxembourg, including practices that exists to address these impacts by businesses; and to provide key findings and recommendations that will inform the formulation and prioritisation of actions for the upcoming revisions of the NAP.
Some of the topics covered in the report are: corporate structures and governance; labour, environment and land, community consultation and engagement, occupational health and safety, tax, trade and investment, anti-bribery and corruption, human rights defenders and whistleblowers, information and communication, consumer protection, anti-discrimination, national human rights institutions, access to judicial and non-judicial remedies. In addition to extensive black-letter law research, Dr. Başak Bağlayan has interviewed businesses and representatives of civil society and public administration to complete the report.
The recommendations of Dr. Başak Bağlayan have informed various action points in the updated version of the NAP which was adopted by the Government in December 2019.
Dr. Başak Bağlayan is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Law. She is also a member of the Groupe de Travail Entreprises et droits de l’Homme. She advises the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on issues of business and human rights and has represented the Government on various international fora in that capacity.