Lawyers in developing countries could be given help when negotiating investment deals with City project lawyers under a UN initiative to bolster their bargaining power when human rights are at stake.

Professor John Ruggie, special representative of the UN secretary general on business and human rights, is looking at whether lawyers and governments in the developing world should be given guidance on ‘responsible contracting’ when negotiating with lawyers from the world’s leading law firms. The study, dubbed the ‘investment project’, forms part of his wider mandate on corporate law and human rights.

Foreign investors can use ‘stabilisation clauses’ in their contracts with domestic ­governments to exempt their business ventures from new domestic laws. Ruggie contends that in many developing countries, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa, such clauses are negotiated without regard to human rights.

In a paper submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, Ruggie says: ‘Seasoned project lawyers from major international law firms expressed surprise that some of their peers were still employing the more extreme stabilisation provisions and that governments were willing to sign them, while several developing country negotiators were unaware of alternatives.’

The UN has tasked Ruggie with examining ‘whether and how national corporate law principles and practices currently foster corporate cultures respectful of human rights’. Ruggie said that the relationship between corporate law and human rights ‘remains poorly understood’.

Vanessa Zimmerman, legal adviser to Ruggie, said: ‘We want to bring about change that helps governments and companies to understand their responsibilities and to have access to more guidance on how to fulfil them. We have already seen a lot of movement.’

Magic circle firms Clifford Chance and Linklaters are providing pro bono advice to the project, which involves 19 law firms from around the world. Clifford Chance recently submitted a report on the interaction between corporate law and human rights in the UK, while Linklaters is expected to file a similar report on Italy. City firm Herbert Smith hosted a meeting on the investment project.