Students

LAWS8500 – Business and Human Rights

2025 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Co-Convenor / Lecturer
Surya Deva
surya.deva@mq.edu.au
Contact via Via iLearn page
315, MKB, 17 Wally's Walk
Co-Convenor / Lecturer
David Birchall
david.birchall@mq.edu.au
Contact via Via iLearn page
343, MKB, 17 Wally's Walk
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to MLCHRS or (Admission to JD and LAWS600 or LAWS8001)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Should respecting human rights be the business of business, especially if doing so might reduce their profit? This unit grapples with various aspects of this perennial question. It introduces students to the evolution of business and human rights (BHR) as a specialised field and its relationship with corporate social responsibility, the Sustainable Development Goals and the environmental, social and governance disclosure. By critically analysing key BHR standards, judicial decisions and the relevant literature, students will gain an understanding of various issues concerning the three sets of questions: why corporations should have human rights responsibilities; what the nature and extent of these responsibilities is; and how to hold corporations accountable and provide affected people effective remedies for corporate human rights abuses. Using case studies and hypothetical scenarios, students will learn how to conduct human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and remediate adverse impacts of business activities on human rights. The unit will enable students to integrate BHR standards in corporate policies, practices and mechanisms and navigate through complex human rights dilemmas that arise in global business operations.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Explain the concept of business and human rights in the context of the changing role and place of corporations in society.
  • ULO2: Examine various justifications for the human rights responsibilities of business.
  • ULO3: Apply relevant regulations and standards to solve human rights dilemmas that corporations face when operating in different countries through subsidiaries and suppliers.
  • ULO4: Evaluate the relative efficacy of various business and human rights regulatory initiatives, including mandatory human rights due diligence laws and modern slavery legislation.
  • ULO5: Explore various access to remedy pathways available to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses.

General Assessment Information

All written assessments must be submitted as per the instructions on iLearn. This unit will use Turnitin software to detect plagiarism. Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment, as re-submissions will not be accepted after the deadline, including instances where students upload an incorrect file by mistake.

Markers will strictly apply the prescribed word limits and will not mark work exceeding the word limit. 

Please check iLearn for marking rubrics and other relevant information for each assessment task. 

Late Submission Policy

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty of the total possible mark will be applied each day to late submissions until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. 

Penalties for late submission will be applied consistently to all students enrolled in the unit. Where serious and unavoidable circumstances have affected their ability to submit an assessment task on time, a student must submit a formal application for Special Consideration as per the Special Consideration Policy. 

Special Consideration 

Students should submit applications for Special Consideration electronically via ask.mq.edu.au, along with the supporting documentation. Before submitting their applications, students should refer to the Special Consideration Policy.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Legal/policy brief 40% No 08/11/2025
Blog writing 30% No During Weeks 3-12
Tutorial Exercises 30% No Ongoing: During tutorials

Legal/policy brief

Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 08/11/2025
Weighting: 40%

 

Students will write a legal or policy brief of about 2,500 words advising the government, a corporation or civil society organisation on a hypothetical scenario.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Apply relevant regulations and standards to solve human rights dilemmas that corporations face when operating in different countries through subsidiaries and suppliers.
  • Evaluate the relative efficacy of various business and human rights regulatory initiatives, including mandatory human rights due diligence laws and modern slavery legislation.
  • Explore various access to remedy pathways available to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses.

Blog writing

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: During Weeks 3-12
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will write two blogs of about 800 words each on topical business and human rights issues.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the concept of business and human rights in the context of the changing role and place of corporations in society.
  • Examine various justifications for the human rights responsibilities of business.
  • Apply relevant regulations and standards to solve human rights dilemmas that corporations face when operating in different countries through subsidiaries and suppliers.

Tutorial Exercises

Assessment Type 1: Simulation/role play
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Ongoing: During tutorials
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will participate in hypothetical exercises and role plays in tutorials throughout the session.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the concept of business and human rights in the context of the changing role and place of corporations in society.
  • Examine various justifications for the human rights responsibilities of business.
  • Apply relevant regulations and standards to solve human rights dilemmas that corporations face when operating in different countries through subsidiaries and suppliers.
  • Explore various access to remedy pathways available to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

This Unit will have two hours of pre-recorded lecture every week, a weekly one-hour tutorial (or a two-hour biweekly tutorial) and other online learning content posted on iLearn.

There is NO textbook for this Unit. Rather, the Unit will rely on materials from diverse sources in different weeks. All readings will be accessible through iLearn.

Students should have access to a computer and internet with decent speed. The iLearn page contains all Unit requirements and a weekly schedule for teaching, readings and tutorials. Information about all assessment tasks is also available on iLearn.

Unit Schedule

The iLearn website contains a detailed schedule of topics covered, required readings, supplementary learning materials and tutorial questions. Below is a brief outline of the topics covered in this Unit:

Weekly Lecture topics

Week 1 Understanding business and human rights (BHR) and its evolution  

Week 2 Expanding horizons and interlinkages of BHR

Week 3 Justification for corporate human rights responsibilities and obligations

Week 4 Key international soft standards

Week 5 Mandatory human rights due diligence and modern slavery laws

Week 6 Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the proposed BHR treaty

Week 7 Navigating through global supply chain challenges

Week 8 Corporate operations in weak governance or conflict zones  

Week 9 Business, human rights and the environment

Week 10 Socio-economic rights, markets and sustainable development

Week 11 Corporate accountability and access to effective remedies

Week 12 The future of BHR and beyond BHR

Week 13 Revision

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2025.01 of the Handbook