BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Chris Engels and Julie Devos, Claeys & Engels
are largely driven by national laws, EU legisla - tion and international commitments, which col - lectively aim to ensure that companies uphold human rights standards and avoid violations in their operations and supply chains. Enforcement is carried out by a range of pub - lic authorities, each with specific mandates, as outlined below. • The Federal Public Service (FPS) Economy plays a key role in enforcing certain business and human rights obligations, particularly in relation to due diligence and corporate governance. The FPS Economy is involved in overseeing the implementation of Belgian laws on corporate responsibility, including non-financial reporting obligations. It also serves as a contact point for complaints and inquiries related to corporate conduct that may violate human rights. • The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is responsible for monitoring corpo - rate transparency and ensuring that compa - nies comply with securities laws that require the disclosure of non-financial information, including human rights-related risks and impacts. • The Belgian Labour Inspectorate, part of the FPS Employment, enforces labour laws, including those that protect against labour exploitation and human trafficking. The inspectorate monitors companies to ensure compliance with labour standards, and it plays an important role in ensuring compa - nies are not involved in forced labour or child labour. While its primary mandate is labour law compliance, the Labour Inspectorate also has a significant role in enforcing standards related to human rights at the workplace level. It can investigate human rights viola -
tions in businesses and issue fines or orders to remedy violations. • The FPS Foreign Affairs is also involved in international human rights issues and repre - sents Belgium in international bodies focused on BHR. It is also tasked with ensuring Bel - gium’s compliance with international human rights conventions. • Furthermore, Belgian courts play a role in state-based enforcement of human rights in the corporate sector, particularly when victims of human rights abuses seek legal redress and accountability for harm caused by Belgian or multinational companies. • Finally, civil society organisations, including NGOs and trade unions, play an important role in monitoring corporate conduct, filing complaints, and raising awareness of BHR issues. 4.2 Case Law Belgian case law on human rights, as well as the case law of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights regard - ing Belgium, mainly concerns the liability of the Belgian government rather than the liability of companies. It covers issues related to the envi - ronment, the reception of asylum seekers, etc. The shift from the state as the primary bearer of human rights obligations to other actors (such as companies) has not yet really manifested itself in Belgian case law. Moreover, it is not easy to access this case law. This was also demonstrated by the Belgian National Baseline Assessment (NBA) on Busi - ness and Human Rights of 2021, which formed the basis of Belgium’s second National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. The NBA team actively looked for judicial and non-judi - cial decisions on business-related human rights abuses. However, they faced difficulties in
23
CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook