CSR Institute Collaborators Publish IBA Article on Global Threats to the Rule of Law

The Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility is pleased to announce the publication of a new article, “Attacks on the Rule of Law and the Threat to Business and Human Rights,” (external link)  released on November 21, 2025 by the International Bar Association’s Business and Human Rights Committee. Co-authored by John Sherman III (Business and Human Rights Counselor; former General Counsel, Shift), Bennett Freeman (Chatham House, Global Economy and Finance Program), Professor Errol Mendes (University of Ottawa), and Professor Kernaghan Webb (Toronto Metropolitan University), the article examines one of the most pressing global concerns of our time: the accelerating erosion of the Rule of Law (ROL) and the International Rules-Based Order (IRBO), and the resulting heightened risks to business-related human rights.

This publication builds directly on the CSR Institute’s year-long focus on threats to the ROL and IRBO—an issue explored across multiple Institute-hosted online sessions throughout 2025. Several of those sessions featured discussions with each of the article’s co-authors, exploring how to shape a sustained, multidisciplinary conversation on the ways governments, businesses, and civil society can respond to mounting global pressures on ROL / IRBO. 

It was on the basis of those sessions that Professor Webb spearheaded a CSR Institute initiative involving the four authors that is intended to assist in assessing the feasibility of a global, multi-stakeholder coalition in support of the ROL and IRBO, drawing inspiration from past collective actions such as the international movement opposing Apartheid.

In their article, the authors analyze why the rule of law is foundational for democratic governance, responsible business conduct, and effective civil society engagement. They highlight how attacks on the ROL undermine states’ and businesses’ ability—and even willingness—to uphold their human rights duties and responsibilities. The legal profession, they argue, has a pivotal role to play, but cannot act alone: broad, collaborative alliances are essential to confronting this trend and reinforcing respect for the ROL across jurisdictions.

To that end, the authors recommend that such a broad-based global coalition could consider taking steps such as the following, among others, in relation to threats to ROL around the world:

• supporting the ROL as a cornerstone of democracy, prosperity, and human rights; 
• resisting intimidation of judges, lawyers, and human rights defenders;
• upholding business commitments to respect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;

 and 

• collectively opposing state actions that undermine the ROL and destabilize workplaces and communities.

The CSR Institute will continue its work advancing research, collaboration, and practical solutions in support of the rule of law and the international rules-based order. As Professor Webb has said on numerous occasions (quoting a civil rights pioneer), "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?"