Discussion Forum on Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms

The purpose of the November consultation is to look at 'gaps' in non-judicial grievance mechanisms as they currently operate (this consultation will complement similar work to be undertaken by the SRSG focused on judicial grievance mechanisms).  In particular, the November consultation will examine performance gaps and institutional gaps.  'Performance gaps' refer to how well existing mechanisms operate and what prevents them from providing the expected quality or scale of access to remedy.  'Institutional gaps’ refer to the gaps created by the insufficiency of existing mechanisms that would require new institutional or procedural arrangements to provide types of remedy or access to remedy that are currently not available. 

This on-line discussion and the November consulation builds off a prior workshop organized by CSRI in 2007 entitled "Corporations and Human Rights: Accountability Mechanisms for Resolving Complaints and DIsputes".  A summary report of the previous consultation can be found here.

We need your views! 

Anyone can read the pages and comments in this forum without registering, but we are really keen to have you contribute your ideas and views as well.  To do so,  click on 'log in' in the top right-hand corner of this page, and then click on 'request access' and fill in your email address (which will remain confidential, but is necessary for the system to recognise you).  We will confirm your access as quickly as we can and then you can start contributing.

Below is a list of existing and potential types of non-judicial mechanism to address grievances.  We are eager to hear from you about these mechansims, with an eye towards identifying which offer the most promise in terms of accessibility, cost, and effectiveness, as well as capacity for scale up.  Additionally, we are soliciting your views on thematic issues, including:

               (1) the relationship between judicial and non-judicial grievance mechanisms; and

               (2) addressing common challenges of access, effectiveness and enforcement. 

To comment, all you need to do is register in two clicks.  First, click on 'log in' in the top right-hand corner of this page, and then click on 'request access', fill in and submit your email address (which will remain confidential, but is necessary for the system to recognise you).  We will confirm your access as quickly as we can and then you can start contributing.

Once registered, login and click on the title of any of these discussion topics and it will take you to a page describing the idea briefly.  Then use the comment box at the bottom to give us your views!

If you would like to initiate a new topic of discussion, click on 'create a page' in the top right corner of this page, create a title for the page and write a short description of the idea and the benefits it would bring.  Then click 'save' at the bottom of the window.  You can add the title of your suggestion to the list below and then link it to your page - or we will do that for you if you are unsure how to do it.  Others can then comment on it in the same way as above.

Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms

International Advisory Center

International Capacity-Building Program

National Ombudsmen

Industry Ombudsmen

OECD National Contact Points

Company Grievance Procedures

International Framework Agreements

Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives

Trade Agreement Grievance Mechanisms

Thematic Discussions

Linking Judicial and Non-Judicial Grievance Mechanisms

Overcoming the Challenges of Access, Effectiveness and Enforcement

New Topics

Using What We Already Have More Effectively

An effective grievance mechanism for the UN Global Compact

If you have any questions, please contact Katherine Neff at srsgconsultation@gmail.com.   

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