CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS rights through their operations by giving examples across a number of industries (agriculture, extractive industry, banking, hospitality, privately operated detention facilities, etc.). Part II. deals with topics that are the least connected with the traditional debate about human rights and business. Contrary to the reader’s expectation, it covers rather distant themes such as the philosophical discourse on the growth of judicial activism in Brazil and the challenges it poses to fundamental rights (p. 80), protection of human rights to social security through private sector and standards and due diligence processes that corporations shall follow to avoid infringing on them (p. 104), the effectiveness of social rights in the times of economic crises and the principle of prohibition of retrocession adopted in Brazil (pp. 115-126), and the new phenomenon of “land grabbing” (large-scale land acquisitions), its negative global impact in the field of human rights and the tensed role of the EU “as a driver of land grabbing outside the EU borders” (p. 99). The constitutional framework for national implementation of human rights is explored in Part III. P. Ondřejek reviews the (over-)constitutionalisation of private law and with the support of examples of howcorporations exercise social power (through their financial strength) vis-à-vis individuals, he further expounds on the need to hold corporations accountable for violations of fundamental rights. After considering the dual position of the corporations as duty-bearers and fundamental right-holders, he concludes that “it is still the primary role for States not only to respect but also to fulfill and protect human rights within their territories” (p. 137). The difficulties with the implementation of affirmative gender action measures aimed at overcoming natural inequalities among people and achieving full (substantial) equality are shown in the reality of Brazil by N. L. X. Baez and T. J. Wenczenovicz. To the slight detriment of the topic of the book, the focus on affirmative measures derived from private initiatives and business sector is only marginal (p. 140). In recent years the business and human rights agenda has been implemented at the national level by adopting the so-called National Action Plans based on the encouragement of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. The National Action Plans contain a commitment to the UN Guiding Principles. J. Brodská and H. Ch. Scheu evaluate the progress of the work on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles at the EU level and the so far non-existence of the EU Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct. The authors argue that the European Commission has lost its momentum on establishing the policy framework and the focus now lies with National Action Plans and their implementation in the EU Member States, which in some aspects have introduced tools that go beyond the consensus within the EU (pp. 164-165). The first Czech National Action Plan and the details of its birth are separately analysed by M. Archalous on the basis of his first-hand knowledge obtained during his participation on the document. The fourth part of the book offers another angle on the issue viewed from the national level. First, J. Ondřejková explains the correlations with the concept of the Corporate Social Responsibility and its “legalization” (p. 173) with a focus on the Czech Republic. She only briefly mentions an important issue of the (non)-biding force of companies’ CSR codes of conduct, as this matter would deserve separate attention. Subsequently, a right to privacy in the context of employer-employee relationships is discussed by M. Štefko who brings into debate regulations of four Central and Eastern European countries in light of the ECtHR decision reached in the Bãrbulescu case and by J. O. Vieira and V. A. Mozetic (the second

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