Business and Children’s Rights

Activities of business enterprises operating in various industries can have an adverse impact on internationally recognised human rights. From child labour and privatisation of essential services, to pollution and chemical exposure severely affecting children’s health, corporate activities have resulted in serious children’s rights violations around the world.

In the absence of an international legal framework obliging companies to respect human rights, individuals and communities as well as non-governmental organisations and governments have brought legal action in domestic courts to hold corporations accountable for their abuses. Non-judicial complaints mechanisms, such as the OECD guidelines complaints procedure, have also been utilised to challenge children’s rights violations committed by business entities.

Case law

CRIN has carried out research on business and children’s rights cases, including civil, criminal, constitutional and administrative cases around the world. On this page you will find cases sorted by theme with links to summaries of court judgments in our legal database, as well as to significant court settlements and National Contact Points’ final statements regarding OECD complaints.

With this information we intend to not only shed light on corporate abuses of children’s rights, but also illustrate how judicial and non-judicial complaints  mechanisms can provide remedies for business-related children’s rights violations. We aim to encourage children’s rights advocates to consider bringing complaints to challenge these violations in order to ensure access to justice for child victims.

We will continue to update this page with links to business and children’s rights cases. Please email your suggestions to [email protected].

Right to life and health
Access to education
Access to justice
Right to housing
Child labour and child trafficking
Crimes against humanity
Minority or indigenous children
Environment
Discrimination
Access to information

Guide to General Comment no. 16 for civil society

CRIN and the International Commission of Jurists have produced a joint guide for civil society on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment no. 16 on business and children’s rights (GC 16).

This guide is intended to serve as a practical resource for advocates interested in challenging negative impacts of businesses on children’s rights. While GC 16 is mostly addressed at States, civil society has a crucial role to play in the promotion and protection of children’s rights. They can also make use of international mechanisms such as those available with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, support children to have access to justice and remedies and engage in strategic litigation on behalf of affected children. Civil society serves as a watchdog drawing public attention to existing or potential corporate abuses; and holding States and businesses to account for their failure to abide by their obligations, as elaborated under GC 16, to ensure that business activity does not infringe or hinder the enjoyment or realisation of children’s rights.

Read the joint guide.

Other resources

  • CRIN's submission on the proposed draft general comment of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

  • UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment no. 16 on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights (2013)

  • Children's Rights and Business Explained: A plain-language version of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's General Comment no. 16 on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children's rights (UNICEF and Save the Children, 2015)

  • Obligations and Actions on Children's Rights and Business: A practical guide for States on how to implement the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's General Comment no. 16 (UNICEF and International Commission of Jurists, 2015)