The Implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Brazil: A Critical Perspective

Abstract

This paper analyses the process of implementing the UN framework of “Protect, Respect and Remedy”. First, it presents a historical overview of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and then it reflects on the repercussions in Brazil, based on the recommendations made after the visit of the UN Working Group in 2015. In 2018, the Brazilian government published a series of regulations, among them, a National Guideline on Human Rights and Business. Unfortunately, the advances contained in the document end up overshadowed by the fact that it was not created in a participatory and transparent way, and by adopting an optional framework when dealing with corporate human rights responsibility, thus mitigating the obligations of respect for human rights by the companies.