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Vol.3-Corporate Legal Accountability-Thematic Report-2008 While there are situations in which businesses and their ocials are directly and immediately $PSQPSBUF$PNQMJDJUZ-FHBM"DDPVOUBCJMJUZ responsible for human rights abuses, allegations are frequently made that businesses have become implicated with another actor in the perpetration of human rights abuses. In such cir- cumstances, human rights organisations and activists, international policy makers, govern- ment experts, and businesses themselves, now use the phrase “business complicity in human rights abuses” to describe what they view as undesirable business involvement in such abuses. Corporate Complicity is development has spawned reports, analysis, debate and questions. What does it mean for a business to be “complicit”? What are the consequences of such complicity? How can busi- & Legal Accountability nesses avoid becoming complicit? How should they be held to account for their complicity? In many respects, although the use of the term is widespread, there continues to be consider- able confusion and uncertainty about the boundaries of this concept and in particular when legal liability, both civil and criminal, could arise. 7PMVNF In , in order to address some of these questions the International Commission of Jurists asked eight expert jurists to form the Expert Legal Panel on Corporate Complicity in Civil VOLUME International Crimes. e Panel was asked to explore when companies and their ocials 3 Remedies could be held legally responsible under criminal and/or civil law when they are complicit in gross human rights abuses and to provide guidance as to the kind of situations prudent compa- nies should avoid. In this third Volume of its nal report, through a comparative analysis of the law of tort in Report of the International Commission of Jurists common law countries and the law of non-contractual obligations in civil law jurisdictions, Expert Legal Panel on Corporate Complicity the Panel explores the law of domestic civil liability and the ways in which, across jurisdic- 3 $JWJM3FNFEJFT in International Crimes tions, civil liability may arise for companies and/or their ocials when they are complicit in gross human rights abuses. International Commission of Jurists ICJ 33, rue des Bains 1211 Geneva 8 Switzerland While there are situations in which businesses and their ocials are directly and immediately $PSQPSBUF$PNQMJDJUZ-FHBM"DDPVOUBCJMJUZ responsible for human rights abuses, allegations are frequently made that businesses have become implicated with another actor in the perpetration of human rights abuses. In such cir- cumstances, human rights organisations and activists, international policy makers, govern- ment experts, and businesses themselves, now use the phrase “business complicity in human rights abuses” to describe what they view as undesirable business involvement in such abuses. Corporate Complicity is development has spawned reports, analysis, debate and questions. What does it mean for a business to be “complicit”? What are the consequences of such complicity? How can busi- & Legal Accountability nesses avoid becoming complicit? How should they be held to account for their complicity? In many respects, although the use of the term is widespread, there continues to be consider- able confusion and uncertainty about the boundaries of this concept and in particular when legal liability, both civil and criminal, could arise. 7PMVNF In , in order to address some of these questions the International Commission of Jurists asked eight expert jurists to form the Expert Legal Panel on Corporate Complicity in Civil VOLUME International Crimes. e Panel was asked to explore when companies and their ocials 3 Remedies could be held legally responsible under criminal and/or civil law when they are complicit in gross human rights abuses and to provide guidance as to the kind of situations prudent compa- nies should avoid. In this third Volume of its nal report, through a comparative analysis of the law of tort in Report of the International Commission of Jurists common law countries and the law of non-contractual obligations in civil law jurisdictions, Expert Legal Panel on Corporate Complicity the Panel explores the law of domestic civil liability and the ways in which, across jurisdic- 3 $JWJM3FNFEJFT in International Crimes tions, civil liability may arise for companies and/or their ocials when they are complicit in gross human rights abuses. 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