The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its concluding observations on the sixth Periodic Report of Germany on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on October 12, 2018. In this report, the Committee especially criticizes the "voluntary nature of of the corporate due diligence obligations set out in the NAP regarding respect for human rights and the lack of monitoring mechanisms in this regard". It recommends that the State party has to "ensure the effective implementation of the NAP by all stakeholders, through a comprehensive and transparent monitoring process [...] (and) adopt a regulatory framework that ensures that all companies domiciled in the State party or under its jurisdiction identify, prevent, and address human rights abuses in their operations in not only Germany but also abroad and that they can be liable for violations". Further, Forum Menschenrechte (FMR), a network of more than 50 German NGOs, has submitted a list of issues on territorial obligations in response to he 6th Periodic Report of the Federal German Government on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). FMR's list of issues on territorial obligations include 24 different problem areas resulting from the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Germany. The observations by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the list contributed by FMR once again show that Germany's voluntary measures do not tackle the problem of human rights violation and are not yet extensive enough.
October 31, 2018 | UN Economic and Social Council, Forum Menschenrechte
UN report shows inadequate implementation of economic, social and cultural rights by Germany
Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the sixth Periodic Report of Germany
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its concluding observations on the sixth Periodic Report of Germany on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on October 12, 2018. In this report, the Committee criticizes that "while welcoming the adoption of the German National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP), the Committee is concerned at the exclusively voluntary nature of the corporate due diligence obligations set out in the NAP regarding respect for human rights and the lack of monitoring mechanisms in this regard. It is particularly concerned at the fact that the State party would introduce binding legislative measures only if less than 50 percent of all enterprises based in Germany with more than 500 employees have introduced human rights standards into their business processes. This may in effect lead to a regulatory gap for the imposition of corporate due diligence obligations even as a large proportion of corporations have not incorporated such obligations in their business activities."
Thus, the one of the Committee's recommendations is "that the State party ensure(s) the effective implementation of the NAP by all stakeholders, through a comprehensive and transparent monitoring process. It also recommends that the State party adopt a regulatory framework that ensures that all companies domiciled in the State party or under its jurisdiction identify, prevent, and address human rights abuses in their operations in not only Germany but also abroad and that they can be liable for violations."
Further, Forum Menschenrechte (FMR), a network of more than 50 German NGOs, has submitted a list of issues on territorial obligations in response to he 6th Periodic Report of the Federal German Government on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). FMR's list of issues on territorial obligations include 24 different problem areas resulting from the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Germany. The selected problem areas, include Leased labor, Right to work, gender pension gap and gender pay gap, equitable access to land for farmers and many more.
The observations by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the list contributed by FMR once again show that Germany's voluntary measures do not tackle the problem of human rights violation and are not yet extensive enough.
Download the Committee's concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Germany here (docx, 82 KB).
Download the List of Issues by Forum Menschenrechte here (pdf, 171 KB).
