Jernej Letnar Cernic

Faculty of Government and European Studies · Constitutional and Human Rights Law

The field of business and human rights has recently seen many seminal developments in the creation of national and international binding and soft law standards in order to protect human dignity of rights holders. This article revisits the function, role and scope of the 2017 version of the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multina...

Human dignity, effective human rights protection and the rule of law are the backbones of the legal system of the European Union (EU). ¹ The EU and its member states have been front-runners in human rights protection not only on its own territory, but also beyond in their relationship with third countries. They have been the principal standard-sett...

Business and human rights is an interdisciplinary field, which advocates that both state and businesses are duty-holders of human rights obligations. The area of business and human rights aims to regulate and prevent negative impact of business operations at all levels of global supply chains. The approach of international law in this regard has so...

Prohibition of conflict of interest prevents abuses of the rule of law in modern constitutional democracies. As a result, is ensures that persons working in state institutions do not use their posts and functions for private gain. The experience from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) illustrates that state authorities have in the past faced challeng...

The global Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the private, family, and professional lives of individuals worldwide. This article discusses its impact on constitutional values in Slovenia and Spain, drawing primarily on my personal experiences. In the past two years, individuals in both countries have suffered greatly due to the pandemic. Millions lost...

The paper considers the attitude of the Slovenian society towards transitional justice. It notes that, in the years following the achievement of independence and the transition from a nondemocratic to a democratic system, the Slovenian society and state have not been able to fully adopt and implement all the necessary measures to redress the injust...

Human dignity, plural democracy and minority rights are the backbones of the constitutional democracy in Slovenia. Constitutional democracy aims in theory to protect the rights of minority social groups against the interests of the majority. It limits the power of the majority by insisting on the protection of constitutional values and principles....

Globalization has, over the past decades, erased borders between continents and countries. It has propelled international trade to previously unforeseen heights. Nonetheless, it has brought about not only positive impact, but also negative consequences for individuals and communities worldwide. Businesses have often been alleged to have been direct...

In the chapter it is examined obligations of business in the field of socio-economic rightsThe author proceeds from the understanding of the importance of socio-economic rights to ensurethe livelihood of people and the creation of human opportunities, as well as their fundamental naturein terms of enjoying civil and political rights. The author is...

Central and Eastern Europe has been often overseen in the debates on business and humanrights. Countries in the regions share a common history, experience and culture. Human rights andfundamental freedoms were in the past systematically and generally violated. Since democratisation,countries have suffered from a wide range of related human rights a...

The monograph examines from the perspective of domestic and international law, business and human rights in the corporations partially or fully controlled by the Slovenian state. It analyses the best international law and comparative legal practices from the point of view of management and control of companies with partial and full state investment...

After the democratization and independence of Slovenia, the Constitutional Court has generated the paradigm reform in the Slovenian constitutional system by protecting individual rights against the heritage of the former system. The constitutional judges are not blank slates, but individuals embedded in their private and professional environments....

Since 2010 the European Union has been plagued by crises of democracy and the rule of law, which have been spreading from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), catching many by surprise. This book argues that the professed success of the 2004 big bang enlargement mirrored the Potemkin villages erected in the new Member States on their accession to Euro...

The EU’s vulnerability to crises is not a novelty, but disintegrative trends have reached a new quality. The financial and fiscal crisis shook the Union, which had just been consolidated by the Lisbon Treaty, to its foundations. The refugee crisis becomes a heavy test of European solidarity. For the first time, a member state, the United Kingdom, w...

Cambridge Core - Human Rights - The Future of Business and Human Rights - edited by Jernej Letnar Cernic

INTRODUCTION The European Union and the Council of Europe have, since their foundation, been committed to the rule of law, human rights and accountability. However, the approach of European states, within the European Union and the Council of Europe, to the Business and Human Rights Treaty Initiative has so far been cautious and conservative. For i...

What the future of business and human rights will be has been one of the most exciting debates in today's global arena. Victims from all parts of the world have been demanding greater corporate accountability for human rights and more effective and efficient access to justice. Rather than presenting one single conclusion reflecting an agreement of...

The countries of the former Yugoslavia have in past decades failed to fully meet both the challenges of the socio-economic environment and of the full-fledged functioning of the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Their development was in the first decade halted by the inter-ethnic wars, while in the second decade their institutions hav...

Global economy has been the driving force behind socio-economic development in all parts of the world. Yet in certain segments, it can negatively affect the dignity of ordinary workers, particularly in developing countries. Global business production nowadays functions through various levels of global supply chains with producers based in the vario...

Central and Eastern European countries have in last decades faced several obstacles to establish full-functioning liberal constitutional democracies and the rule of law. This article studies the impact of the European Court of Human Rights on the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe by examining reasons for high number of judgements finding vi...

The right to freedom of religion is one of the cornerstones of a free, pluralistic, tolerant and broadminded democratic society. However, it is not absolute but is protected within the context of other values. The article discusses and analyses over twenty most important cases concerning the exercise of religion in public space from the case load o...

The European economic crisis has severely affected socio-economic rights of hundreds of thousands. An economic crisis can also undermine a state’s institutional and financial ability to fully maintain the rule of law and protect human rights of its population. This article therefore examines the theoretical relationship between the rule of law and...

This article critically examines weak execution of judgements of the European Court of Human Rights from the perspective of on-going innate struggle between ideas of liberalism and illiberalism in transitional societies of Central and Eastern European countries. This article thereafter identifies and analyses the reasons for poor execution of judge...

The right to freedom of religion is one of the cornerstones of a free, pluralistic, tolerant and broadminded democratic society. However, it is not absolute but is protected within the context of other values. The article discusses and analyses over twenty most important cases concerning the exercise of religion in public space from the case load o...

The adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011 marked a watershed moment, establishing the first global standards for preventing human rights abuses by business. In light of this paradigm shift, The Business and Human Rights Landscape offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of the current legal fra...

This article aims to assess the achievements and challenges facing the transitional justice processes that have taken place in the countries most affected by the armed conflicts resulting in the violent dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and whether, and to what extent, these processes have furthered inter-ethnic reconciliation. The two variables...

The global business environment has changed rapidly in the past decades, but the human rights and business discourse has often lagged behind. At the international level, hard law regulations still seem decades away. United Nations initiatives such as the Guiding Principles and the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corp...

Poor public resource management and the global financial crisis curbing fundamental fiscal space, millions thrown into poverty, and authoritarian regimes running successful criminal campaigns with the help of financial assistance are all phenomena that raise fundamental questions around finance and human rights. They also highlight the urgent need...

p>This article examines state obligations under indigenous territorial rights. The cultural survival and development of indigenous peoples depends on their spiritual and factual connection with their lands. It argues that indigenous ancestral land rights derive from international and national law. Indigenous customs prefer a collective land tenure...

The right to a fair trial is one of the backbones of the rule of law and a conditio sine qua non for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This article examines whether fair trial guarantees also exist before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It attempts to identify whether the Court of Arbitration for Sport follows the fair tr...

This Insight describes and analyzes the 2011 Update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

In recent decades, globalisation has stirred up a number of positive and negative developments in national and international environments. An important feature of globalisation is the rise of the economic, social, cultural and political power of corporations. While corporate activities may positively contribute to the livelihoods of individuals, co...

This article argues that the concept of joint commission through another person has a central place in the co-perpetration architecture of the Rome Statute and jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court. The concept of joint commission through another person envisages a commission of a crime by two or more individuals through one or more sub...

The association of human rights with business has gained a strong foothold in international, as well as domestic, law. A great number of United Nations (UN) initiatives include a reference to corporate responsibility for human rights. This article attempts to clarify the current attempts within the United Nations to address and regulate corporate r...

Almost a billion people do not have access to clean and safe water. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is increasingly being considered a fundamental human right. Corporations play an important role in the realization of the right to water. For example, they can become violators of the right to water where their activities deny access to...

On 24 June 2010, the Austrian Constitutional Court rendered its most recent decision in a series on bilingual topographical signs in the Austrian province of Carinthia in V 9/10-9. The Court held that the difference in size between the German and Slovenian topographical signs for Bleiburg-Pliburg, Drveša vas- Ebersdorf and Žvabek were illegal and u...

The relationship between human rights law and business has emerged in recent years as one of the most topical to be discussed and put on the agenda almost worldwide. The activities of corporations in this globalized environment have often served as the catalyst for human rights violations; due to the lack of institutional protection, some corporati...

This monograph is one of the first on the contribution of the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’) to interpreting and developing international human rights and humanitarian law rules and principles. Although such a book has been long awaited by academics, students and practitioners of human rights and public international law worldwide, it has b...

Globalisation has blurred the artificial borders that exist betweeneconomies and societies around the world. The activities of corporations in this globalised environment have often served as the catalyst for human rights violations; due to the lack of institutional protection, some corporations are able to exploit regulatory lacunae and the lack o...

Las empresas desempeñan un papel importante en el ejercicio del derecho al agua y los derechos de la sociedad en su conjunto. Por ejemplo, pueden convertirse en violadores del derecho al agua mediante sus actividades denegando el acceso a un agua limpia y segura, o cuando incrementan en un plazo breve los precios de ésta. Las corporaciones pueden t...

The discussion on corporate human rights obligations has been ongoing for some time. More recently, the potential for corporate accountability under a new domain of international law, namely international criminal law, is being explored. This raises questions as to the interrelationship between and the intersection of the two fields of internationa...

On 30 June 2009, the European Court of Human Rights delivered three decisions deriving from the situation in the Basque country, Herri Batasuna and Batasuna v. Spain, Etxeberría and Others v. Spain and Herritarren Zerrenda v. Spain. In Herri Batasuna and Batasuna v. Spain, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the dissolution of the political p...

Lawyers, economists and social scientists alike have for a number of years agreed that foreign investment has the potential to act as a catalyst for the enjoyment of an individual’s fundamental human rights, particularly in developing countries. This article discusses and critically analyses corporate human rights obligations and the lack thereof u...

This article explores the treatment of detainees in treaty and customary international humanitarian law. Detainees are persons who do not or have ceased to take a direct part in hostilities or are hors de combat. It contextualizes the discussion on the treatment of detainees by illustrating an example from contemporary Slovenian history relating to...

A short comment on the 2009 report of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Professor John Ruggie to the United Nations Human Rights Council, “Business and human rights: Towards operationalizing the 'protect, respect and remedy' framework” A...

International criminal law falls within the areas of international law which have progressively developed in the past two decades. This field of law has come a long way since its first steps in Nuremberg and Tokyo after the Second World War and the more recent establishment and functioning of ad hoc tribunals in the Hague and Arusha and the permane...

This treatise is the first on public international law in Slovenian by a Slovenian author. Although such a book has been long awaited by students, academics and practitioners of international law in Slovenia, it was worth waiting for despite its minor weaknesses. Both the choice of the book title - ‘Foundations of International Law’ - and its lengt...

Earlier this year, on 27 February, a mass demonstration was held in Sarajevo, where 10,000 victims of the Srebrenica genocide expressed their disillusionment with the judgment of the International Court of justice ('ICJ') handed down a day earlier. On 26 February 2007, the ICJ had delivered its decision in the Case Concerning the Application of the...

On August 28, 2008, the United Kingdom's National Contact Point (UK-NCP) issued its decision in Global Witness v. Afrimex Ltd. In this case, Global Witness, a non-governmental organization, alleged that Afrimex Ltd. (Afrimex), a British corporation, violated the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organization for Economic Development a...

This article analyses the Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy of the International Labour Organization. It argues that given the current lack of a legally binding international document on human rights obligations of corporations, the focus on work towards legally-enforceable, existing interna...

When an individual has suffered a violation of her human rights by or involving corporations, she should have recourse to a court or quasi-judicial mechanism to enforce responsibility of perpetrator. It appears that the victims of human rights violations by or involving corporations have presently a limited access to a court either in their home co...

In Saadi v Italy, the European Court of Human Rights held that article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits expulsion of individuals to states where they would face a "real risk" of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. This article analyses the ECHR's reasoning.

A Review Essay on the 2008 report of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and Transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Professor John Ruggie to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights AH/HRC/8/5, 7 April 2008.

In analyzing and describing the contribution and the role of an important international judicial body such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ, World Court, or simply the Court) in the interpretation and the development of international human rights and humanitarian law rules and principles one can employ different methodologies and adopt di...

International law regarding the denial of justice has in past centuries attracted the greatest minds of international legal scholarship. Scholars such as Hugo Grotius and Charles De Visscher have discussed the concept. The last book on this subject was published by Alwyn V. Freeman in 1938. Denial of Justice in International Law by Jan Paulsson is...

Even though freedom of the press is not absolute and must be balanced with other interests, it is often accorded decisive weight over other rights. Deriving from freedom of expression, freedom of the press belongs to a genus of "heavyweight" rights beneficial to society as a whole. The status of the right in a democratic society was considered in K...

Drawing borders between countries has historically been a very demanding task, often underpinned by deeply-rooted emotions that suppress the argumentative dialogue and reasoning and in too many cases has led to long-term general deterioration of relationships which may devolve into war. As the title suggests, the focal point of this paper will be a...

The right to self-determination is the cornerstone of the international society under the Charter of the United Nations and under the international human rights instruments. However, the exercise of the right to self-determination has always relied on the fragile balance of current realpolitik of great powers in the international society. In the fi...