Introduction In 2007/8, there were an estimated 78,000 transnational corporations (TNCs) with 790,000 foreign affiliates and 82 million employees. UNCTAD estimates that their total sales amounted to $31 trillion, representing an estimated 11% of global GDP in 2007.1 With such economic power, it is clear that the activities of TNCs have the potential for far-reaching social and political consequences. While it is generally accepted that the activities of TNCs have brought, and continue to bring, significant direct and indirect benefits to home and host states, there are also examples of where the activities of TNCs have been associated with human rights violations. Such negative consequences have been frequently observed in states where a power imbalance exists between the economic might of the TNC and the State, a fact noted by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Professor John Ruggie, who stated that: “a negative symbiosis [exists] between the worst corporate-related human rights abuses and host countries that are characterized by a combination of relatively low national income, current or recent conflict exposure, and weak or corrupt governance . . .”.2 Concerns about the real and potential impact of TNCs on the realisation of human rights prompted the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) to request the Advisory Council of Jurists (ACJ) to report on the relationship between human rights, corporate accountability and government responsibility. At the 12th Annual Meeting of the APF held in Australia in July 2007, Forum Councillors adopted a reference on human rights, corporate accountability and government responsibility, requesting the Advisory Council of Jurists to advise, and where relevant, make recommendations on: • • The basis for attributing human rights responsibilities to transnational corporations under international human rights law The State’s obligations to regulate transnational corporations with regard to human rights violations within its territorial jurisdiction • The State’s obligations to regulate transnational corporations with regard to human rights violations occurring outside its territorial jurisdiction? • The concept of corporate complicity in international crimes to protect human rights • • The jurisdictional barriers exist in enforcing human rights obligations against corporations The role of NHRIs in ensuring that States regulate the human rights activities of transnational corporations • The role do NHRIs have in educating and/or monitoring corporations involved in human rights abuses This report outlines the responses of the ACJ to the terms of reference, as well as a consolidated list of the recommendations for consideration by NHRIs. Additional information is available in the Supplementary Report and Annexures, available at: www.asiapacificform.net/acj 1 World Investment Report Overview: Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New York and Geneva, 2008 @ Page 5. 2 Ruggie, J. Interim Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2006/97 (2006). -5-