Nick Howen 29 January 2010

The Council mourns the loss of Nicholas Howen, who died on 26 January in Geneva after a long illness. An active supporter of the International Council, he was the lead researcher and writer for the Council’s report Beyond Voluntarism – Human Rights and the Developing International Legal Obligations of Companies, which paved the way for much subsequent work on the human rights responsibilities of business – an issue that he continued to promote as Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists. Nick was very widely known across the world for his energy and passionate commitment in support of human rights, and will be greatly missed as a human rights lawyer, a campaigner, and a friend.