E/C.12/GC/24
57.
Furthermore, non-judicial remedies should also be available in transnational settings.
Examples include access by victims located outside the State’s territory to that State’s
human rights institutions or ombudspersons as well as to complaints mechanisms
established under international organizations, such as the national contact points operating
under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
V. Implementation
58.
Ensuring that business activities are pursued in line with the requirements of the
Covenant requires an ongoing effort from States parties. To support this, the national action
plans or strategies that States parties are expected to adopt to ensure full realization of the
Covenant rights should specifically address the question of the role of business entities in
the progressive realization of Covenant rights.
59.
Following the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
many States or regional organizations have adopted action plans on business and human
rights.106 This is a welcome development, particularly if such action plans set specific and
concrete targets, allocate responsibilities across actors, and define the time frame and
necessary means for their adoption. Action plans on business and human rights should
incorporate human rights principles, including effective and meaningful participation, nondiscrimination and gender equality, and accountability and transparency. Progress in
implementing such action plans should be monitored, and such plans should place equal
emphasis on all categories of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights.
As regards the requirement of participation in the design of such plans, the Committee
recalls the fundamental role that national human rights institutions and civil society
organizations can and should play in achieving the full realization of Covenant rights in the
context of business activities.
106
16
See recommendation CM/Rec(2016)3 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe,
appendix, paras. 10-12.