Memorandum for the Petitioners |139
of Human Rights (the IACtHR) in February 2018 (See Exhibit “CCCC” to
“CCCC-6,” Statement of Dr. Marcos Orellana, which discussed this.).
Civil liability (Non-contractual or Tort)
8.201. The Honorable Commission “can and should draw on that larger
body of human rights law and fundamental principles of legal and moral
responsibility that apply across legal domains,” including in the Philippines,
in assessing the role and responsibilities of Carbon Majors with respect to
climate change and human rights responsibilities outlined in the UNGPs.*!
8.202. When determining whether a business enterprise can be held
liable for a harm, civil liability (as opposed to criminal or contractual liability)
and human rights law are centered around two elements of responsibility—
whether the actor has:
1.
The ability to foresee a harm; and
2.
The ability and opportunity to avoid or minimize
harm.®?
that
8.203. Generally, in civil liability, whether claimants can seek a remedy
depends in part on the links between an identifiable plaintiff, an identifiable
defendant, and a causal chain that connects the harms suffered to the actions
or inactions of the defendant.®? Under certain areas of law, like strict liability,
proof of causation alone will trigger liability, regardless of the conduct by the
Alternatively, under a theory of comparative negligence, a
plaintiff.
defendant is only liable for a percentage of fault.
8.204. However, allocating responsibility, particularly among corporate
actors for human rights violations, is a matter of evolving jurisprudence that
balances considerations of statutory mandate, fairness, moral, and ethical
obligations, among other considerations.
Therefore, judicial bodies tend
to seek evidence that a defendant not only caused a harm, but that they
were responsible for that harm in some way, such as by acting (or failing
to act) in a way that that rendered them morally responsible for
addressing and remedying the consequences of those actions.© >
8.205.The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) explicitly
addressed the fundamental tenets of civil liability in a comparative study
651
652
653
$54
655
CIEL and Plan B,
Smoke and Fumes
See Exhibit “KK”
Ibid.
Smoke and Fumes
Joint Summary Amicus, supra note 50, p. 67.
Report, supra note 51, p. 5.
to “KK-10,” Profile and Statement of Lisa Anne Hamilton, JD, p. 7.
Report, supra note 51, p. 4.
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