A/HRC/11/13 page 23 94. With regard to civil claims, a complainant may not be able to obtain an effective remedy from a company through a host State’s national courts because of a range of legal and practical impediments. There may be no available course of action. The courts may lack the capacity to handle complex claims. Costs are frequently prohibitive: even filing a case may be too expensive for poor individuals and communities, and cost allocation provisions like the “loser pays” may preclude many more claimants from bringing a case. In the event of a favourable judgement enforcement may be difficult, especially if the company lacks sufficient assets. 95. Where the company is a subsidiary of an overseas parent, additional factors can compound these barriers. The parent company may use its own leverage with the host Government or mobilize the home Government and international financial institutions. The alternative of filing a suit in the parent company’s home State for the subsidiary’s actions, or for the parent’s own acts or omissions, can raise jurisdictional questions about whether it is the appropriate forum, and may trigger policy objections by both home and host State Governments. Moreover, the standards expected of parent companies with regard to subsidiaries may be unclear or untested in national law. Such transnational claims also raise their own evidentiary, representational, and financial difficulties. 96. As regards criminal proceedings, even where a legal basis exists, if State authorities are unwilling or unable to dedicate the resources to pursue allegations, currently there may be little that victims can do. 97. Legal and practical access barriers are often accentuated for “at risk” or vulnerable groups, whether companies are national or transnational. Such groups may include women, children and indigenous peoples, as well as those marginalized for other reasons in their interactions with companies.54 Governments have a critical role - and in some cases, a duty - to raise awareness of the risks facing these individuals and communities, and to ensure that their rights are adequately protected, including by providing access to remedy. 98. The Special Representative will continue research and consultations on barriers to judicial remedy, as well as possible options to address them. D. Non-judicial mechanisms 99. In his 2008 report, the Special Representative presented a set of grievance mechanism principles. Six should underpin all non-judicial grievance mechanisms: legitimacy, accessibility, predictability, equitability, rights-compatibility and transparency.55 As a seventh principle specifically for company-level mechanisms, he stressed that they should operate through dialogue and mediation rather than the company itself acting as adjudicator. The remainder of this section looks at mechanisms at company, national and international levels. 54 The Lowenstein International Human Rights Law Clinic at Yale University is conducting research for the Special Representative on the challenges confronting artisanal miners in engaging with large-scale mining companies and in accessing effective remedy. 55 A/HRC/8/5, para. 92.