IBA launches online handbook for lawyers on business and human rights

The International Bar Association has launched the first two chapters of its online Handbook for Lawyers on Business and Human Rights.

This handbook is designed to help legal practitioners to develop, improve and supplement the legal services that they provide to their clients by helping them to gain a greater understanding of the human rights issues that are relevant to their legal practice and to their clients' activities.

In this way, the handbook aims to help legal practitioners to integrate Business and Human Rights considerations into the advice they provide to their clients in a way that is consistent both with their legal professional duties and also the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The handbook builds upon the IBA Business and Human Rights Guidance for Bar Associations and the IBA Practical Guide for Business Lawyers. Stéphane Brabant (Herbert Smith Freehills Partner in Paris, co-head of the HSF Business & Human Rights practice and a leading member of the International Bar Association working group that drafted the IBA guides) and Elsa Savourey (Avocat, Paris) discuss the IBA Practical Guide for Business Lawyers in further detail here and here.

The IBA plans to develop the handbook on a chapter-by-chapter approach, starting with an initial focus on company and commercial work. In particular, these first two chapters of the handbook deal with Human Rights issues in the context of M&A, corporate restructuring and commercial transactions.

The handbook is designed both for in-house and external lawyers and contains a series of practical resources, checklists and case studies to help lawyers navigate human rights issues in their work.

There will be a session held at the IBA's 2017 Annual Conference in Sydney to discuss the handbook, as well as other relevant international Business and Human Rights issues.

Business and Human Rights hub