BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS / Šturma, Mozetic (eds)

Therefore, a “reverse” approach was chosen. During the discussions in the working group, 12 key issues were chosen, that were considered relevant for the Czech Republic. Those issues are: Education and awareness-raising; Criminal liability of legal persons in the field of human rights; Director Disqualification; Protection of social service clients; Most serious infringements of working conditions; Trade in military equipment; Supply chains and conflict minerals; Non-financial reporting; Public procurement; State aid, guarantees and subsidies; State-owned enterprises; Foreign affairs. Some of those issues span over multiple Principles. As stated above, it is not the purpose of this text to discuss them further, they are thoroughly explained in the NAP itself. The second “pillar” is even more descriptive and explanatory. It is aimed at the business actors themselves, where the government has no direct power. Pillar one contains measurable, well-defined goals for the state bodies, the second pillar is mostly guideline and general advice for the companies, separated into 5 categories: Internal policy commitment, Human rights due diligence, Remedy, Transparency, Cooperation. In the future, useful material to support companies in these areas should be gathered at single government-run website. 2 The third pillar is aimed at remedy and access to justice. In theory, remediation and recovery of human right abuses should happen by cooperation of all interested parties. In practice, however, the third pillar works mainly with access to courts, legal aid and legal procedures. The most interesting sub-chapter (and according to many participants of the drafting process also the most important) is class action. The NAP provides for preparation of the Class Action Act, a long missing tool of collective remedy in Czech civil law. The act itself was already in preparation, the NAP just reinforces these efforts. 5. Conclusion – and follow-up Although “rubber stamped” by the government, the NAP is only a piece of paper – a set of goals, that someone must achieve, and someone must check the progress. NAPs are supposed to be living documents, providing feedback and being updated regularly. (And this happens in the world, as several countries have already published their second, updated NAPs.) The Czech NAP is not to be different in this aspect. Although the Working Group ceased its activity, some members will be consulted for the follow-up mechanism. There will be two periodic reports (in 2020 and 2022) and possibly an updated NAP. Along with this, lots of other activities are planned. A more in-depth research is being commissioned, there will be conferences and other events… But the most important thing is, that the NAP was finished, approved and published, introducing the topic into our public debate. The topic of business and human rights is widely discussed on the international field – not only in the UN, but also in the EU, the Council of Europe, the OECD – all these organizations published more or less binding recommendations in this area. By approving the NAP, the Czech Republic decided to take an active part in this discussion.

2 www.narodniportal.cz

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