Associate Professor Surya DEVA Appears as Expert Witness Before the Canadian Parliament
On 23 March 2021, Dr Surya DEVA, an Associate Professor at CityU School of Law and the current Vice Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, appeared as an expert witness before the Canadian House of Commons’ Subcommittee on International Human Rights. Dr Deva gave advice to the Subcommittee via Zoom. Two other witnesses during this hearing were Hon Mary NG, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, and Ms Mairead LAVERY, President and Chief Executive Officer of Export Development Canada.
The Subcommittee on International Human Rights is currently examining the role and powers of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), a new institution established by the Canadian government in 2019 to deal with human rights abuses linked to overseas operations of Canadian companies in garment, mining, and oil and gas sectors.
Drawing on a 2017 report that he wrote and presented to the UN General Assembly, Dr Deva highlighted that affected rights holders should be able to secure an effective remedy, not merely access to a remedial mechanism. Dr Deva recommended that the mandate of the CORE should not overlap significantly with other non-judicial grievance mechanisms such as the Canadian National Contact Point.
Dr Deva also suggested that if a key objective of the CORE were to provide effective remedies and hold Canadian companies accountable for their overseas human rights abuses, it should have the power to investigate, compel documents and testimony, and enforce its recommendations 2 against companies. With such powers, the CORE would not only be able to remediate but also prevent human rights abuses in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
2021年3月23日，香港城市大學法律學院副教授，現任聯合國工商業與人權問題工作組副主席Surya DEVA博士在加拿大下議院的國際人權小組委員會會議上擔任專家證人。Deva博士透過Zoom向小組委員會提出意見 。是次聽證會上，其他兩名證人分別是加拿大小型企業，出口推廣及國際貿易部長伍鳳儀女士（Hon Mary NG），以及加拿大出口發展公司總裁兼首席執行官Mairead LAVERY女士。
國際人權小組委員會目前正研究加拿大企業責任申訴專員（CORE）的作用和權力，該機構是加拿大政府於2019年成立的新機構，旨在處理製衣業、礦業和石油與天然氣三個領域企業，在海外進行商業活動時侵犯人權的行為。
Deva 博士在他撰寫並提交給聯合國大會的2017年報告中強調，受影響的權利持有人應獲得合理的賠償，而非僅獲得補救機制的保障。Deva博士指出，企業責任申訴專員的職責不應與其他非司法申訴機制明顯重疊，如加拿大國家聯絡點（Canadian National Contact Point）。
Deva博士還建議，設立「企業責任申訴專員」的主要目的是提供有效的補救措施，使加拿 大公司對其海外侵犯人權行為負責，有見及此，它應該有調查、進行搜查並強制要求提交文件作證的權利，而且能針對涉嫌侵犯人權的公司進行審查及提出建議。有了這樣的權力，企業責任申訴專員可以按《聯合國工商業與人權指導原則》改善和防止侵犯人權行為。