LCIL Lecture: 'Global governance on the ground: the development and implementation of the OECD Guidance Documents for Responsible Business Conduct'

Lecture summary: A recent important development in global governance is the adoption of OECD guidance documents for corporate conduct in several sectors. Since 2011, five documents have been adopted by the OECD ranging from guidance on conflict minerals in 2011 to guidance for institutional investors in 2017. The guidance documents are central in the development of due diligence requirements for companies, especially with respect to human rights (including labour rights), the environment and corruption with respect to companies themselves, and, importantly, their supply chains. They cover a wider field and are much more detailed than the better known United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The guidance documents have been developed through multi-stakeholder processes with a special twist since the OECD as an international organisation formally adopts them. Also, the implementation demonstrates special features. The conflict minerals guidance is used, and challenged in the courts, as part of the US Dodd-Frank Act and the EU is in the process of adopting a regulation based on the same guidance. The lecture will analyse these aspects of the guidance documents and ask whether they will have a real effect on the ground or if they are just another example of the sad experience in global governance: “So many norms, so little effect!”

Ola Mestad is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo and currently a visiting fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. He is chairing the Norwegian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Previously, he was in private practise for 10 years, focusing on oil and gas law, and he has been the Chair of the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (the Oil Fund). Professor Mestad has published books and articles in different fields of law, including company law, contract law, international economic law, EEA law, constitutional law and history, and legal method.

Numbers are limited so please arrive early to avoid disappointment. Please note the lecture programme is subject to revision without notice.