Expert meeting: the human rights impact of fiscal and tax policy

Transcription

1 Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Expert meeting: the human rights impact of fiscal and tax policy Palais Wilson, Geneva, September 16th & 17th, 2013 At the 26th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (June 2014), the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, will submit a report concerning fiscal and tax policy, poverty and human rights. The report will apply human rights principles and standards to different practices for revenue-raising and taxation, with the objective to: o identify current trends in fiscal policy and their impact on human rights, especially those of persons living in poverty; o highlight concerns as well as benefits raised by particular policies and practices in taxation and spending; o make concrete recommendations to States on how to ensure fiscal policy is in accordance with human rights obligations. As in the case of all the Special Rapporteur s reports, as a UN document the report will be translated into the six UN official languages including Arabic, Chinese and Russian and widely disseminated among member States. It will include policy recommendations to States, provide a framework for monitoring States compliance with human rights obligations, and will constitute a practical advocacy tool for civil society organisations. II. Expert meeting In order to assist her in drafting her report, the Special Rapporteur convened an expert meeting in Geneva September 2013, with the support the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES-Geneva Office), MISEREOR (the German Catholic Bishops Organisation for Development Cooperation), Center of Concern and Christian Aid. The expert meeting will bring together a small group of experts from civil society, grass roots organizations, UN agencies and academia working in diverse fields including economics, social policy, development and human rights. It will provide them with an opportunity to give inputs, based on their experiences, which will help the Special Rapporteur decide the direction and content of the report. 1

2 III. Venue The expert consultation will take place at the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR), in Palais Wilson. Address: No. 52 Rue de Paquis, Geneva. 16 September Room: September Room: IV. Main Expected Outcomes The main expected outcomes for the meeting are to: a) Provide a forum for participants to offer inputs to the Special Rapporteur s report on fiscal policy; to guide and influence the scope and substance of the report and its recommendations; and b) Facilitate the formation of collaborative advocacy approaches amongst participants and identify opportunities for further collaboration between the Special Rapporteur and the participants. V. Format The meeting is designed to maximize discussion. It will be a round table discussion. Each session will be introduced by brief opening remarks/informal presentations (5 to 7 minutes MAX.) that will initiate the subsequent debates. The primary aim will be to gather your views and recommendations on the key issues that the Special Rapporteur s report should include, including recommendations to States. VI. Agenda To facilitate the discussion we have identified some of the questions we would like the meeting to address. These are indicative and should not prevent you from raising different issues. 2

3 AGENDA Day 1 Monday September 16 th :00 09:45: Welcome and Introductions Welcome by Rio Hada, Chief, Sustainable Human Development Section, Special Procedures Branch, OHCHR and Matthes Buhbe, Director, FES Geneva Office Welcome and introduction to the meeting by Magdalena Sepúlveda, Special Rapporteur (Outlining objective and structure of the meeting) Brief introductions from each participant I. Fiscal policy, poverty and human rights 09:45 11:15: Human rights principles and taxation: General reflection Nicholas Lusiani, CESR (the importance of tax policy for resourcing rights 5 ) Seema Joshi, Amnesty International (how are human rights principles relevant to fiscal policy 5 ) James Heintz, PERI (maximum available resources and the role of tax policies 5 ) Charles Gore, UNCTAD (on the increasing importance of fiscal and tax policies as means to finance development 5 ) Questions to consider: How can human rights principles guide a state s fiscal policy process? What guidance do human rights principles and norms offer for ensuring sustainable financing of human rights priorities? How can tax policies contribute to the respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights? How can human rights impact States discretion to formulate fiscal policies? 11:15 11:30 Break 11:30 12:45: Fiscal policies: the different impact on the rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups Mayra Moro Coco, AWID (on gender impact 5 ) Katja Hujo, UNRISD (on impact on children s rights and wellbeing 5 ) Collins Magalasi, AFRODAD (on vulnerable and excluded groups 5 ) Questions to consider: What type of fiscal policies are likely to have a negative impact on excluded and disadvantaged groups? What are the differentiated negative impacts of some fiscal policies on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups? How does taxation policy relate to the elimination of discrimination based on gender and other prohibited grounds? What particular issues emerge regarding the relevance of spending practices for groups in situations of vulnerability and groups that experience discrimination? : Lunch 3

4 13:45-14:45 Fiscal policies: Ecological dimensions Roberto Bissio, Social Watch (A developing country perspective 5 ) Klaus Schilder, MISEREOR (A developed country perspective 5 ) Questions to consider: What are the links between human rights, ecology and tax policy? Are there identifiable conflicts or synergies between/ among laws on these different fields? II. Fiscal policy and human rights: The revenue-raising side 14:45 15:30: Human rights principles and taxation: Country experiences (I) Nicole Bidegain, DAWN (Uruguay, 5 ) Alvin Mosioma, Tax Justice Network (Kenya, 5 ) Mahinour El-Badrawi, Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (Egypt, 5 ) Questions to consider: What are the common trends in all these experiences? What policy recommendations can we draw from these experiences? Can we generalize findings? 15:30 15:45: Break 15:45 16:30: Human rights principles and taxation: Country experiences (II) Lorna Gold, Trocaire (TBD 5 ) Jessica Evans, Human Rights Watch, (TBD 5 ) Questions to consider: Same as previous session 16:30 17:45: Sectoral concerns: extractives, the financial sector, sector-specific incentives Luis Moreno, LATINDADD (on taxation of extractives 5 ) Aldo Caliari, Center of Concern (on financial sector taxation 5 ) Jayson Cainglet, RUPEL (on agro investment incentives 5 ) Questions to consider: Does taxation in these sectors raise specific human rights issues? What reforms are needed for taxation in these sectors to comply with human rights principles and tackle poverty? Are there human rights principles or jurisprudence of particular relevance? 17:45 End first day 4

5 Day 2: 17 th September :00 10:45: The international dimension: Intergovernmental tax cooperation and the extraterritorial obligations of States John Christensen, Tax Justice Network (on the enabling environment for mobilizing domestic revenue 5 ) Alex Pratt, Christian Aid (on specific issues on transfer pricing 5 ) Kinda Mohammadieh, ANND (on the taxation and human rights link in investment contracts and agreements 5 ) Rolf Künnemann, ETO Consortium (on the relevance of extraterritorial obligations 5 ) Questions to consider: What international cooperation is needed to remove external obstacles countries face in mobilizing domestic resources to meet their human rights obligations? What guidance does human rights law offer in this regard? What suggestions do you have for developing the extraterritorial application of human rights law in these areas? 10:45 11:00 Break 11:00 12:45: Human rights principles and spending Chris Grove, ESCR-Net (on budget monitoring 5 ) Esme Berkhout, Oxfam (on progressive and regressive practices in social spending 5 ) Tove Maria Ryding EURODAD (on debt spending and austerity measures 5 ) Questions to consider: What is the relevance of human rights principles to the distribution of expenditures? What has been learned about practices on design and implementation of budget expenditures? What specific human rights issues are raised by spending cuts (austerity measures)? What human rights issues are raised by spending on debt service? 12:45 14:00: Lunch 14:00-16:00: Recommendations for report Magdalena Sepúlveda, UN Special Rapporteur The Special Rapporteur s report will be addressed to States and will include detailed, practical recommendations to States on how to ensure that fiscal and tax policy respects, protects and fulfils the human rights of people living in poverty. 5

6 In this session, participants are asked to propose specific ideas for the content of the report and the Recommendations to States it should include. Questions to consider: What specific recommendations to States should the report include? Are there any outstanding issues that this meeting has not addressed which should be included in the report? How we move the issue forward? What are the political challenges ahead? How to overcome them? 16:00-16:15 Coffee/tea break 16:15 17:00: Closing remarks and next steps ****************************************************************************** Questionnaire As part of the formulation of this report, the Special Rapporteur sent two questionnaires: to States and to civil society and National Human Rights Institutions regarding the human rights impact of fiscal and tax policies. The text of the questionnaires and the responses can be found in the mandate s Website. 6