Complicity

The role that a business enterprise plays in human rights impacts caused by others - complicity - is a thread running through most topics covered in a typical business and human rights (BHR) course. The risk of corporate complicity is more common than direct human rights violations by companies. Corporate complicity scenarios can be less obvious, more difficult to identify as having human rights impacts connected to a business enterprise, and more challenging to address consistent with international standards and stakeholder expectations for responsible business conduct. Through the lens of complicity, BHR teachers can explore human rights standards under international law, the ways companies are connected to human rights impacts, and tools for holding companies accountable and providing remedy to individuals affected by business activity. This chapter outlines the elements of complicity under international and national law, considers complicity in the context of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, surveys common corporate complicity scenarios in different sectors, and describes an approach to teaching complicity in a BHR course.