ABSTRACT
Since the adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in 2011, efforts by businesses and other organizations to develop non-judicial grievance mechanisms for addressing business-related human rights complaints have expanded around the world. This chapter provides a multidimensional analysis and assessment of the current status and future prospects of meaningful stakeholder engagement (MSE) in the design and implementation of such mechanisms, which the UNGPs categorize as “operational grievance mechanisms” (OGMs). In examining a variety of probative materials developed by industry associations, civil society, and academics, the chapter proposes a novel typology of three distinct modes of stakeholder engagement that are used in developing OGMs: unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral. The chapter uses this typology to show how these differentiated modes of stakeholder engagement are intrinsically linked to the varieties of institutional design of OGMs, as well as to their ongoing effectiveness, or lack thereof. The chapter also provides insights into the proper scope of OGMs, the natural contentiousness of grievance resolution processes, the problem of stakeholder skepticism vis-à-vis company-led OGMs, and the need to expand the role of stakeholders in grievance investigations and in determining adequate remedy. While progress has been made to date, the chapter concludes that the development and implementation of effective alternatives to the company-centric unilateral model of OGMs remains exceptional, and that stakeholder-oriented transformations in regulatory and policy frameworks are needed to spur the shift towards truly bilateral and multilateral approaches.
