A/HRC/50/56 mechanisms can offer relatively quick and inexpensive routes to remedying human rightsrelated harm. Moreover, well-designed and well-resourced non-judicial mechanisms offer an accessible and relatively fast process, while drawing on technological expertise to analyse and help resolve underlying or contributory problems, for instance relating to product design or deployment. Depending on their mandates and capabilities, these mechanisms may be able to devise, determine or negotiate a more creative, targeted, tailored and potentially transformative set of remedies than might be obtained from other procedures.49 53. For the time being, however, the coverage provided by these types of mechanisms remains quite patchy, with certain rights, particularly protection of the right to privacy and freedom of expression, receiving the greatest attention. 3. Non-State-based grievance mechanisms (including company-based mechanisms) 54. In guiding principle 28, States are called on to consider ways to facilitate access to effective non-State-based grievance mechanisms dealing with business-related human rights harms.50 55. As with the State-based non-judicial mechanisms discussed above, these privately operated mechanisms tend to be extremely diverse in terms of their design and operation, the ways they can engage with affected individuals and communities and the kinds of remedies they offer. In this context, the Guiding Principles highlight particularly those mechanisms administered by a business enterprise alone or with stakeholders, by an industry association or by a multi-stakeholder group (guiding principle 28). 56. Multi-stakeholder and sector-level mechanisms can be particularly useful in contexts where collaboration between business enterprises (for example, those connected by commercial relationships within a supply chain) can help to facilitate the delivery of effective remedies to affected people, for example by creating the basis for a more level playing field between companies in terms of basic standards and expectations, or to aid the allocation of responsibilities for providing remedies in complex cases. However, while a number of these types of initiatives are presently in place or under development in other sectors (and notably in the agricultural and garment sectors), within the technology sector most efforts to establish privately operated initiatives for rapid resolution of human rights-related grievances have taken place at the company level.51 4. The remedy ecosystem for remedying technology-related harms 57. The technology sector is presently subject to regulation by an increasingly complex array of laws and standards, which can vary greatly in terms of their substantive and geographical scope, making the remedy ecosystem incomplete and hard to navigate for affected people and groups.52 58. To ensure that people affected by business-related human rights abuses have a “realistic and readily identifiable remedy pathway”,53 greater attention needs to be given to the ways in which different remediation mechanisms and processes interact, in order to highlight areas where greater coherence and interoperability between different types of processes (for example, judicial and non-judicial) may serve to enhance access to remedies by affected people and groups. 59. Greater interoperability and coherence may be achieved, for instance, by providing more and clearer opportunities for referral and escalation of grievances, or for pursuing remedies for different aspects of more complex grievances through parallel proceedings. Moreover, more creativity, innovation and collaboration are needed from State agencies and 49 50 51 52 53 On the role of national human rights institutions, see A/HRC/47/39/Add.3. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/business/ohchr-accountability-and-remedy-project-iii-enhancingeffectiveness-non-state-based-grievance. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/GlobalPartnersDigital-joint-submission-onbehalf-of-a-groupoforganizations.pdf#page=4. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Business/B-Tech/access-to-remedyecosystem-approach.pdf. Ibid. 11