Around the world, our lawyers advise clients on compliance with human rights laws, as well as the principal international frameworks containing human rights requirements for businesses, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, IFC Performance Standards and the Equator Principles.

In many regions, legislation has been enacted, aimed at improving corporate reporting on human rights issues and introducing mandatory human rights due diligence. The expectation on businesses to consider their environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts is already familiar to many companies, particularly those with a prominent public profile dependent on a strong reputation. Increasingly, these corporates are under scrutiny from regulators, investors and shareholders, customers, the public and other stakeholders to demonstrate respect for human rights, and we are able to help navigate the intricacies of necessary processes and reporting mechanisms to ensure human rights impact risks are identified and mitigated.

Besides our work for corporate clients, our South African team has a long history of social responsibility and human rights work, having had a human rights department since the 1980s and offering a full commitment to pro bono work, including human rights litigation. Our lawyers offer advice and legal representation to non-governmental, non-profit, community-based, public benefit, corporate or unincorporated bodies, trusts, foundations and charities working to secure or protect human rights and individuals or groups whose inability to afford legal fees means they are denied access to justice.