National:
Stop corporate pre-emption

Implement regulations through national legislation that stop polluting corporations from attempting to pre-empt being brought to justice or to abuse processes meant to uphold justice.

What does this look like?

  • Adopt and enforce safeguards against any abuse of rules such as those pertaining to prescription and amnesty, among others that fosters or contributes to impunity.[1][2]

    • Prescription – either of prosecution or penalty - in judicial, administrative, and other cases should not occur for periods that render no effective remedy available.

    • Prescription should not apply to crimes under international law that are by their nature imprescriptible. When it does or must apply, prescription should not be effective against civil or administrative actions brought by victims seeking reparation for their injuries.

  • Stop attempts by polluting corporations to avoid justice and fair trials, such as:

    • Appealing to move legal claims to parts of the judicial system that favour a corporation.

    • Countersuing.

    • Granting the same (or greater) privileges to the committer of crimes as those that the crimes are committed toward.

  • Incorporate pre-emption clauses for international litigation.

    • Through legislation or litigation, ensure that the corporation being held liable is not able to pre-empt further or future liability actions from governments and/or victims at the sub-national level.

    • Adopt provisions that allow for the implementation of strict liability regimens, especially for environmental litigation cases.[3]

    • Adopt constitutional reforms that allow the inclusion of nature rights and environmental rights.

      • All action taken to protect the rights of nature must reinforce and support the rights of people, local communities (including peasants, fisherfolk, nomadic, and rural peoples), Indigenous peoples, and collective rights.

 

 Implementing the measures of the liability roadmap

Decision-makers and movements at all levels should keep the following in mind when implementing the measures laid out in this roadmap:

  • Enacting these policies and measures is simply the first step to holding polluting and destructive industries liable: There will be much work for government officials, decision-makers, activists and civil society alike to do to ensure these measures are fully implemented and move us toward the transformative change the world needs.

  • Liability should be applied to all industries and corporations that make business decisions that contribute to climate change and its impacts, or that cause harm to people and nature. In addition to the fossil fuel industry, these industries include but are not limited to agribusiness, forestry, mining, and the energy sector. 

  • Many of these measures could equally apply to State-owned corporations. Because the national contexts and unique needs vary from country to country, it is worth considering where to apply and how to adapt the principles and measures listed in the liability roadmap to address State-owned polluting corporations. Factors to consider when doing so could include but are not limited to the degree of democratic control over the entity, role and use of funding from oil/gas revenues, and responsiveness of the entity to transition to regenerative, renewable energy sources. 

  • Measures implemented at the national level should support and reinforce, rather than contradict, measures implemented at the sub-national and local, and vice versa.

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1 Theo Van Boven, "Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law" Audiovisual Library of International Law, December 16, 2005, https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/ga_60-147/ga_60-147.html.

2 Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights. “PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHT: Impunity: Report of the independent expert to update the Set of principles to combat impunity, Diane Orentlicher,” Sixty-first session, Geneva, February, 8, 2005, https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1.

3 Geetanjali Ganguly, Joana Setzer, and Veerle Heyvaert, "If at First You Don't Succeed: Suing Corporations for Climate Change," Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 38, no.4 (Winter 2018): 841-868, https://academic.oup.com/ojls/article/38/4/841/5140101.