Human Rights, Export Credits and Development Cooperation: Accountability for Bilateral Agencies

This unique book examines whether there is sufficient human rights accountability for undertakings supported by bilateral state development and export credit agencies. In contrast to leading international development and financial actors such as the World Bank, the accountability of bilateral development and export credit agencies has, to date, remained widely unexplored.

This book analyses the effectiveness of the human rights system in allowing affected individuals to claim accountability for human rights violations resulting from bilateral development and export credit agency supported undertakings. It provides a comprehensive examination of development and export credit agencies' legal nature and explores three legal pathways open to claimants: host state responsibility, home state responsibility and corporate responsibility. Furthermore, it includes empirical data on the corporate responsibility process in seven agencies. Barbara Linder concludes that there is a significant human rights accountability gap with regards to bilateral development and export credit agency supported undertakings. The final chapters make recommendations for strengthening human rights accountability and improving access to justice for adversely affected individuals.

Academics and professional lawyers working at the intersection of human rights, development cooperation and investment will find this a compelling body of work. The book provides information on existing case law, highlights human rights accountability gaps and outlines illustrative case studies that will act as a valuable point of reference.

Barbara Linder, Senior Researcher, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights, Austria