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68 - Corporations, Human Rights and Compliance

from Part IX - Analysis of Particular Fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2021

By
Wim Huisman
Edited by
Benjamin van Rooij  and
D. Daniel Sokol
Benjamin van Rooij
Affiliation:
School of Law, University of Amsterdam
D. Daniel Sokol
Affiliation:
University of Florida
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Summary

Abstract: In the last decades, human rights have entered the wide field of corporate social responsibilities and the subsequent standards that corporations have to comply with. While not yet in the form of hard law, international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have introduced principles and guidelines for business and human rights. The Special Rapporteur on Business and Human Rights for the UN Human Rights Council has designed the so-called ‘Ruggie framework’ in which corporations have the duty to respect human rights, while states have the duty to protect them. Many industries and corporations have adopted these principles and guidelines in their codes of conduct. While being non-enforceable, these principles and guidelines are often seen as embryonic law. Currently, a binding treaty on business and human rights is being debated by the UN. Also, on the national level, lawsuits against corporations for being involved in human rights abuses, both civil and criminal, have been brought to courts in various countries. Cases even amount to corporate involvement in breaches of international criminal law such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a response to the increasing awareness of the role of business in human rights violations, a plethora of judicial and non-judicial instruments has been introduced to hold corporations and their executives accountable and to ensure compliance with human rights standards. This chapter will first explore the human rights obligations of corporations and the ways in which corporations are responsible for the breach of these obligations. Second, we will explore what is known about actual corporate compliance with human rights standards and corporate involvement in human rights violations. Third, the chapter will discuss available instruments for enforcing corporate compliance with human rights standards and their use, before, fourth, assessing the various regulatory and non-regulatory interventions for potential effectiveness. Integrating contemporary models of business regulation and compliance management, the chapter will end by exploring possibilities to combine and order existing instruments into a coherent scheme of action.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Compliance , pp. 989 - 1009
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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