The Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework

Protect: The Framework sets out five ways in which states can work to promote and protect corporate respect for human rights and prevent corporate abuses of human rights:

1. greater policy coherence and effectiveness across departments working with business
2. promoting respect for human rights when states do business with business
3. fostering corporate cultures respectful of human rights
4. devising innovative policies to guide companies operating in conflict-affected areas
5. examining the cross cutting issue of extraterritoriality.

Respect: Corporate responsibility to respect human rights means acting with due diligence to avoid infringing the rights of others and addressing harms that do occur. A company's responsibility to respect applies across all its business activities and relationships.

It is clear that there are few if any internationally recognised human rights that a business cannot impact, or be perceived to impact in some manner, so companies should consider all such rights.

Remedy: The Framework indicates that states have to ensure that when human rights abuses occur, those affected have access to effective remedy through judicial, administrative, legislative or other appropriate means.

People who believe that their human rights have been abused should be able to bring this to the attention of their government or the company involved and seek remediation. The Framework does not suggest that a business which is indirectly linked to abuses through a business relationship is required to provide for remediation, either financially or otherwise, though it may take a role in doing so.