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⁷ Other regulation attempts include the UN Resolution on Measures Against Corrupt Practices of Transnational and Other Corporations, their Intermediaries and Others Involved, UN G.A. Res. 3514 (XXX) of 15 December 1975 and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, available at: http://www.ilo.org/empent/Publications/WCMS 094386/lang—en/index.htm (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

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¹⁴ The commentary mentions the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the 1998 International Labor Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, UN instruments on the rights of indigenous peoples; persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities; women; children; persons with disabilities; and migrant workers and their families as well as the standards of international humanitarian law; OECD Guidelines, supra note 6, Commentary on Chapter IV Human Rights at para. 39.Google Scholar

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¹⁶ All three documents are contained in the updated version of the Guidelines: Commentary on the Implementation Procedures, supra note 6, at 77–89.Google Scholar

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²² Id. at 2(d).Google Scholar

²³ Id. at 3(b).Google Scholar

²⁴ Id. at 3(c).Google Scholar

²⁵ Id. at Part. II, Investment Committee, 2. (a), (b) and (c).Google Scholar

²⁶ Both committees are independent umbrella organizations consisting of either domestic business organizations or domestic trade unions that have a consultative status with the OECD and its committees. For more information see http://www.tuac.org/en/public/index.phtml (last accessed: 23 December 2011) and www.biac.org/ (last accessed: 23 December 2011) at 31.Google Scholar

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⁴⁴ The Annexes of the First Report distinguish between different groups of companies. Annex three lists those companies that are considered to have violated the Guidelines. See the Final Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN Doc. S/2002/1146, Annex III (2002), at paras. 170–178.Google Scholar

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⁵⁸ These internal rules are analyzed in particular within the GAL approach. See for various GAL studies, www.iilj.org/gal/bibliography/default.asp (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

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⁶² In general, see Kadelbach, Stefan & Kleinlein, Thomas, Überstaatliches Verfassungsrecht (National Constitutional Law), 44 Archiv des Völkerrechts (AV) 235, 235–266 (2006); For the principle of democratic governance, see Thomas D. Franck, The Emerging Right to Democratic Governance, 86 Am. J. Int'l L. 46, 46–91 (1992); Gregory H. Fox & Brad R. Roth, Democratic Governance and International Law (2000); Niels Petersen, The Principle of Democratic Teleology in International Law, 34 Brook. J. Int'l L. 33–84, 334 (2008). For the rule of law, see Watts, Sir Arthur, The International Rule of Law, German Yearbook of International Law 15, 15–45 (1993); Simon Chesterman, An International Rule of Law?, 56 Am. J. Comp. L. 331, 331–361 (2008); Brian Z. Tamanaha, On the Rule of Law 127–136 (2004). For the principle of good governance, see Rudolf, Beate, Is “Good Governance” a Norm of International Law, in Völkerrecht als Wertordnung 1007–1028 (Pierre-Marie Dupuy, et. al. eds., 2006).Google Scholar

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⁹⁷ BIAC, TUAC and OECD Watch all have separate agreements with OECD bodies on the access to internal information. The agreements were not retrievable on the OECD website. Information obtained in an interview with Kirsten Drew from TUAC of 15 December 2010.Google Scholar

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¹³⁵ OECD Guidelines— Commentary of the Investment Committee, supra note 6, at Section I, Reporting to the Investment Committee.Google Scholar

¹³⁶ TUAC Contribution to the Annual Report of IC (2002), supra note 131, at 61.Google Scholar

¹³⁷ The Procedural Guidance still only requires the IC to consider the reports of NCPs. OECD Guidelines—Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section II, 3(a).Google Scholar

¹³⁸ s, supra note 53, at Principles of Constitutionality and Institutional Balance, Section. 1, 12.Google Scholar

¹³⁹ OECD Guidelines—Council Decision and Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at 67–75.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁰ ILA Report, supra note 53, at Principle of Good Faith 12. This general principle gives rise to sub-principles such as equal treatment of like cases. The equal treatment principle is not respected as regards the procedures and the institutional structure of the NCP including their financial resources as well as regards substantial issues. The 2011 version of the Guidelines remedies this arbitrary implementation to a certain extent. The Procedural Guidance and the Commentary of the IC now require the predictability of the specific instance procedures. The Commentary also introduces a paragraph requiring national governments to equip NCPs with financial resources for their proper functioning. OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section I, C; Commentary of the Investment Committee, supra note 6, at Preface and Section I, Guiding Principles for Specific Instances.Google Scholar

¹⁴¹ OECD Watch, The Confidentiality Principle, supra note 110, at 5.Google Scholar

¹⁴² ILA Report, supra note 53, at Principle of Supervision and Control, Section 1, 13.Google Scholar

¹⁴³ Id. at Section 2, 13.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁴ Id. at Section 3, 13.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁵ OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section II, Investment Committee, 2(b) and (c).Google Scholar

¹⁴⁶ Id. at Section II, 2 (d).Google Scholar

¹⁴⁷ OECD Guidelines— Council Decision, supra note 6, at Section II, 4.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁸ International Law Commission, Report on the 61^st session, art. 5 Commentary 60 (2009), available at: http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/reports/2009/2009report.htm (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁴⁹ Id. at art. 6 Commentary, 65.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁰ Id. The position in the report of the International Law Association is similar, see ILA Report, supra note 53, at section 1–5, 28.Google Scholar

¹⁵¹ The Swiss request concerned the application of the Guidelines in domestic cases, Annual Report of IC (2005), supra note 51, at 26; The British request concerned the applicability of the old version of the Guidelines, Annual Report of IC 64–65 (2004), available at: http://www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3746,en 2649_34889_34325076_1_1_1_1,00.html (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁵² The request was not submitted as the clarification was considered as strategically counterproductive during the update deliberations. Information received in an interview conducted with Kirsten Drew from TUAC.Google Scholar

¹⁵³ The statement can be found in the Annual Report of IC (2003), supra note 113, at 22.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁴ Id. Google Scholar

¹⁵⁵ Utz, supra note 98, at 84.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁶ ZlMMER, supra note 12, at 96.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁷ OECD Watch Statement, supra note 10, at 2.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁸ See the statement of the Swedish NCP that judicial proceedings in Ghana, which is certainly not the paradigmatic case of a weak governance zone, are insufficient in resources and capacity. OECD, Annual Meeting of the National Contact Points, Report by the Chair 15 (2003), available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/3/47/15941397.pdf (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁵⁹ A summary of the different position can be found in the Annual Report of IC 94 (2006), available at: http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,3746,en_2649_34889_37785448_1_1_1_1,00.html (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁶⁰ Id. at 97.Google Scholar

¹⁶¹ Id. at 96–98.Google Scholar

¹⁶² Id. at 27.Google Scholar

¹⁶³ OECD Guidelines— Commentary of the Investment Committee, supra note 6, at Section I, initial assessment, para. 2.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁴ See TUAC's analysis of procedural shortcomings in TUAC Contribution to the Annual Report of IC (2002), supra note 131, at 58. TUAC requested a clarification by the IC that was however not issued. Only a questionnaire was sent out to the NCP. The findings of the questionnaire were included in the Annual Report of IC (2003), supra note 113, at 22–25 and 45–56; OECD Watch Contribution to the Annual Report of IC (2008), supra note 43, at 126.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁵ OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section II, 5 (c) and Commentary of the Investment Committee, supra note 6, at Section I, Peer Learning.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁶ ILA Report, supra note 53, at Principle of Stating the Reasons for Decisions, Section 1, 13.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁷ Id. at Section 2, 13.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁸ Id. at Section 3, 13.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁹ See the two clarifications in Annual Report of IC (2005), supra note 51, at 26; Annual Report of IC (2004), supra note 151, at 64–65.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁰ OECD Guidelines—Procedural Guidance, supra note 123, at Section I, 4(b); Commentary of the Investment Committee, supra note 123, at Section I, para. 18–19.Google Scholar

¹⁷¹ OECD Watch, The Confidentiality Principle, supra note 110,at 6; see also the answers of 23 NCPs to the question whether they give reasons for their decisions, Annual Report of IC (2003), supra note 113, at 53–54.Google Scholar

¹⁷² BIAC, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - Business Brief (2003), available at: http://www.biac.org/pubs/mne_guidelines/business-brief-1-2-final.pdf (last accessed: 23 December 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁷³ A good example for a negative outcome is the Final Statement of the French NCP, Aspocomp, mentioning the company, the allegations, the facts and the norms violated. See Annual Report of IC (2004), supra note 151, at 76. A good example for a positive outcome is the Final Statement of the Chilean NCP, Marine Harvest Chile S.A., including information on company, allegations, facts, norms, and solutions to remedy the violations, available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/13/32429072.pdf. (last accessed: 23 December 2011); A positive example is also given with the Final Statement of the UK NCP, Peugeot, Annual Report of IC (2008), supra note 43, at 61–70.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁴ Stakeholder Consultation Document on the UK National Contact Point's Promotion and Implementation of the OECD Guidelines 15 in, OECD Watch, The Confidentiality Principle, supra note 110, at 6.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁵ See the section on transparency and access to information.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁶ ILA Report, supra note 53, at Principle of Effective Remedy, Section 1, at 1, 33.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁷ Id. at 33.Google Scholar

¹⁷⁸ Id. at 33 et seq. Google Scholar

¹⁷⁹ Id. at 33.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁰ Id. at 34.Google Scholar

¹⁸¹ Id. Google Scholar

¹⁸² Id. at 37.Google Scholar

¹⁸³ See TUAC Contribution to the Annual Report of IC (2005), naming these three in particular and others that do not comply with the rules on implementation. Annual Report of IC (2005), supra note 51, at 122.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁴ Between 1977 and 2000, 35 clarifications were requested. Since the revision in 2000, only 2 more clarification requests were submitted. Utz, supra note 98, at 52.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁵ OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 123, at Section II, 3 (b) and (c).Google Scholar

¹⁸⁶ OECD Guidelines— Council Decision, supra note 123, at Section II, Investment Committee, at para. 4.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁷ For the competence of OECD Watch to request clarification, see OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section II, 2 (b) and (c); for the possibility of the parties to express their views, see OECD Council Decision, supra note 6, at Section II, 4.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁸ ILA Report, supra note 53, at Principle of Objectivity and Impartiality, 14.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁹ Schuler, supra note 4, at 1756; He describes an instance in which the Finnish NCP was accused before the Ombudsman of the Finnish parliament to be partial in its handling of a specific instance; also Queinnec, supra note 27, at 3.2; In the same vein, Contribution by OECD Watch to the Annual Report of IC (2005), supra note 51, at 134; see also the statement of the UK parliamentary commission on Human Rights that considered the lack of neutrality of the NCP as one of the major obstacles to an effective remedial body. Statement contained in OECD Watch, Ten Years On, supra note 98, at 50.Google Scholar

¹⁹⁰ See the Annual Report of IC (2008), supra note 43, at 91.Google Scholar

¹⁹¹ See description in the Annual Report of IC (2008), supra note 43, at 12.Google Scholar

¹⁹² OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section I, A (1) and C. Commentary of the Investment Committee, supra note 6, at Section I, Guiding Principles for Specific Instances.Google Scholar

¹⁹³ OECD Guidelines— Procedural Guidance, supra note 6, at Section I, A (1).Google Scholar

¹⁹⁴ In this sense, see the ILA Report supra note 53, at Principle on objectivity and impartiality, 14.Google Scholar

¹⁹⁵ I am indebted to a former employee of the German NCP who directed me towards this argument during an interview.Google Scholar