Corporate social responsibility requires companies to respect human rights and environmental standards, also when doing business abroad. If they fail to do so, the law offers several solutions.
The lawyers at Prakken d’Oliveira regularly litigate against companies that violate fundamental rights in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world. They represent both individual victims and interest groups in lawsuits against e.g. multinationals or financial institutions. They also offer legal assistance for the lodging of criminal complaints and are experienced in conducting semi-legal proceedings, e.g. before the National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines (NCP).
Moreover, this experience makes the lawyers at Prakken d’Oliveira well-equipped to advise companies on how to prevent human rights violations, or on how to better organize their internal (complaint) procedures. Therefore, Prakken d’Oliveira can also be the right point of contact for companies seeking to practice corporate social responsibility.
The Business & Human Rights-department of our firm is praised in Chambers Global; amongst other things, it writes:
"(Strengths) An interviewee asserts that the lawyers "are very competent, and have a strong social conscience that results in them taking on important and challenging cutting-edge cases that many other firms would shy away from.
A client notes that the team: "is well aware of the perspectives and interests of third parties in developing countries, collaborating to prevent, monitor and mitigate the negative human rights impacts of Dutch companies and agencies that are operating abroad." The interviewee concludes: "The firm is well equipped to provide clients with legal advice on issues relating to developing policy reform and advocacy strategies."