When raising concerns about development projects, complainants typically seek various outcomes, such as repairing damaged roads or houses, compensation for impacts on crops, or a greater say in company decisions that impact their livelihoods.
This section looks at the different outcomes of CAO processes.
After accepting a complaint, CAO conducts an assessment, which does not involve a judgment on the merits or the substance of the complaint. Rather, the assessment process is designed for CAO to gain a better understanding of the complaint issues and enable the complainants and companies concerned to make an informed decision about how they wish to address the complaint with CAO’s help. Specifically, CAO offers two options to address the issues – a Dispute Resolution or Compliance process. Over time, these options have been used in equal numbers.
Participating in a CAO Dispute Resolution process is voluntary for all involved and can therefore only be pursued when both the complainants and the company choose to engage in this way. CAO is often asked whether, when cases go to Compliance, it is complainants or company representatives who decide against Dispute Resolution. Since 2012, when CAO started tracking this data, we have seen that, in the cases that did not proceed to Dispute Resolution, it is more often the company that has made the choice to decline a Dispute Resolution process and proceed to Compliance. It is also not uncommon that neither party prefers Dispute Resolution.
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From its first engagement with complainants and company representatives, CAO aims to build trust and confidence in its approach. An important element of this is how much the parties to a complaint perceive CAO to act fairly and balanced.
