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Global Business & Human Rights

Our Global Business & Human Rights blog features nuanced discussion regarding the responsibilities of multinational companies, governments and multilateral institutions towards sustainability, with a particular focus on international human rights.

Cuts to a Little-Known U.S. Agency Undermine the Global Fight Against Forced Labor
Blog December 01, 2025
For several decades, the United States has strengthened its efforts to stringently enforce anti-trafficking statutes at home with practical partnerships to prevent forced labor abroad…
As Governments Push Back on Corporate Human Rights Responsibilities, Influential Stakeholders Push Forward
Blog April 28, 2025
In a blog article before the November 2024 election, our GBHR Practice discussed how the pushback on ESG will not stop the tide towards higher human rights standards for companies…
Recent Developments in E.U. and U.S. Human Rights Law Signal an End to Voluntary Corporate Standards
Blog August 11, 2024
Over the next few years, lawmakers and regulators in many jurisdictions will be deepening their implementation of new human rights laws that impose significantly higher compliance burdens for companies. Concerns over whether companies can tolerate the increasing challenges associated with compliance are fast being supplanted by the belief that companies must build ESG risk management systems into their cost of doing business…
New E.U. Law Advances Global Efforts to Eradicate Forced Labor in Supply Chains
Blog June 26, 2024
On April 23, 2024, the European Parliament adopted, by an overwhelming 555-6 majority, a landmark law that will establish a sweeping and forceful regulatory regime to prohibit any products made using forced labor from being sold (including online) within, imported into, or exported from the E.U. market…
UDHR at 70: Taking Stock of Human Rights Today
Blog December 10, 2018
As we mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights today, some might say that we have little to celebrate. The significant human rights gains of the early post-Cold War years appear to be coming undone as authoritarian populists take hold in countries that once seemed firmly in the democratic fold. For all of our solemn promises to “never again” permit the perpetration of genocide and crimes against humanity…
New Anti-Trafficking Legislation May Spur Closer Look at Manufacturers' Supply Chains
Blog September 28, 2018
On September 26, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R. 2200).  The bill would reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.  In July 2017, the House passed its version of H.R. 2200. Of potential consequence for companies, Section 133 of H.R. 2200 would enhance the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor that is issued and updated periodically by……
Five on Friday – Five Recent Developments that We've Been Watching Closely
Blog July 28, 2017
Its Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we've been monitoring. This week's post includes: a decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice addressing a corporations duty of care with regard to the employees of its suppliers; new IBA guidance for lawyers on integrating business and human rights considerations into their advice to clients; and a report evaluating corporate conflict minerals filings for calendar year 2016…
Corporate Social Responsibility and Compliance: A Functional Convergence
Blog August 11, 2016
This is the first in a series of posts reflecting excerpts from a chapter that I authored on corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the Corporate Legal Compliance Handbook.  Over the last 20 years, many companies have invested considerable time and resources in developing comprehensive compliance standards and procedures. At a minimum, compliance programs are intended to prevent and detect violations of the law that may lead to civil or criminal liability…
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ABOUT

Foley Hoag’s Global Business and Human Rights practice provides counsel to multinational companies, governments, and multilateral institutions regarding social, political, and environmental challenges.

Our advice to clients encompasses legal and reputational risk management with respect to human rights, including labor rights and the rights of indigenous peoples; the design and implementation of stakeholder engagement programs; and professional auditing services, ranging from due diligence desk-top analyses to on-the-ground human rights impact assessments and the monitoring of social, human rights, and environmental initiatives.

In addition, we provide clients with crisis management and mediation services with respect to disputes with impacted communities and stakeholder groups, ranging from indigenous peoples to non-governmental organizations.