Increased Risks of Liability for International Human Rights Claims Brought in Canada

On July 22, 2013, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Choc v. Hudbay Minerals Inc. 2013 ONSC 1414 (the “Hudbay Decision”) dismissed a preliminary motion of the Defendants, Canadian mining company, Hudbay Minerals (Hudbay), thereby allowing the lawsuit against the company to proceed. The claim, which is yet to be proven, alleges Hudbay is responsible for human rights abuses allegedly committed by mine security personnel at Hudbay’s wholly owned and controlled subsidiary, Compania Guatemala de Niquel (CGN), in eastern Guatemala.

As noted, the matter has yet to proceed to trial and none of the allegations raised have yet been proven. That being so, this case has important implications for Canadian businesses operating abroad. In essence, the finding means that a complaint

Addressing Substantial Legal Restrictions on Freedom of Association in Equator Principles Projects

Freedom of Association may be substantially restricted by law in some countries. This reality creates complex challenges for Equator Principles (EP) implementation, since the requirements of the Equator Principles require compliance with host country laws and in some cases addressing the overlapping and interrelating requirements of the IFC Performance Standards on Environmental & Social Sustainability (IFC Performance Standards). 

As we discuss in this article, the IFC Performance Standards establish standards for the protection of Freedom of Association rights, even in circumstances where the law substantially interferes with those rights.

World Bank Compliance Advisor Ombudsman 2012 Annual Report

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank, which oversees implementation of the IFC Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability for the IFC and MIGA, released its 2012 Annual Report. The Report provides an overview of CAO's work in the busiest year for the office since it was established in 1999. CAO has seen a consistent increase in requests for its services, and handled 33 cases during the year through its dispute resolution and compliance functions. This year's report focuses on outcomes delivered by CAO in FY2012, in addition to a summary of outreach activities, M&E findings, and advisory work.

PDAC: Community demands of mining companies to increase

Reporting from the PDAC conference in Toronto, the Mining Journal published the following this week:

Community demands of how mining companies share the economic benefits from natural resources will continue to increase, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private lender.

The warning came from Tom Butler, the global head of mining at IFC who was speaking at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada 2013 convention in Toronto. Butler said the mining sector had done a great deal in managing social risks, but indigenous communities would expect more in the future.

Grievance Mechanisms and the Equator Principles

Principle 6 of the Equator Principles (EP) requires that, for all Category A and B projects, the borrower must create a “grievance mechanism” as part of the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS). A grievance mechanism must be designed to receive and facilitate resolution of concerns about the project’s environmental and social performance.

This article will discuss the Grievance Mechanism requirement in the EP, including as set out in the IFC Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability (IFC Performance Standards).

Grievance Processes for Internal and External Stakeholders

The purpose of this post is to consider the issue of internal and external stakeholder grievance mechanisms from a legal perspective.  The impetus was an interesting article I read by John Sherman, a senior fellow with the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of Harvard Kennedy School on the topic.