The Interaction between Business and Human Rights and Corporate Accountability for International Crimes Focusing on Conflict-Affected Areas

• Applicant: Dr. Kateryna Buriakovska
• Subject Area: Public Law
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 544661190

This research focuses on the role of the business and human rights framework (BHR) in holding corporations criminally accountable for international crimes in the context of an armed conflict.Today one can observe a gradually growing tendency in national criminal jurisdictions to hold corporations and their executives accountable for war crimes (but also crimes against humanity and genocide, which often happen prior to or during armed conflicts). It is enabled by the efforts of the States to introduce international criminal law (ICL) enforcement mechanisms and incarnated practically by means of strategic litigation of human rights organizations to bring such cases before the court of law.However, these cases are not numerous in comparison with cases against military people, commanders or superiors. One of the reasons for that is the nature of modern businesses, which made them creative in disguising their contribution and/or linkage to human rights abuses and international crimes and allowing to elude justice. In addition, there are also reasons of political nature. However, this research will focus on the specific legal challenge related to establishing material and mental elements of corporate complicity in international crimes.The power and influence of companies in present times, their aim to increase incomes, often neglecting possible human rights risks for people they influence, has found its response in the framework of business and human rights, in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. With that, this research is based on the hypothesis that the UNGPs can potentially serve as a valuable instrument for addressing obstacles related to prosecutions of businesses or their executives for complicity in international crimes. Thus, the key objectives of this project are:1. to identify the role the UNGPs play in present criminal cases on corporate complicity in international crimes in the context of armed conflict.2. based on findings of the previous step, to identify ways of interplay between ICL and BHR, asking what the common ideas and principles for these two fields are, and how these two fields can inform each other in fulfilling their functions.The interrelation between ICL and BHR has not been covered much by BHR and ICL scholars. However, there is a gradually evolving interest in the topic, evidenced by academic events, books and practice, and this research project tends to fit into the avant-garde of this.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position