6 - Understanding property rights: companies, states and the duty of international co-operation

Summary

Articles 1(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) read:

All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.

This paragraph sets out the right to own and dispose of property, but also sets limits to the use of that property. No property right is absolute, as Parkinson points out: ‘Ownership rights are not absolute (ownership of a knife does not entitle the owner to stab people with it). That shareholders might own companies does not mean that they may insist that directors attempt to maximise profits in any way at all.’

This chapter analyses two different approaches to property rights, draws on the concept of human rights as providing a framework for building just institutions and uses the two together to argue that companies should be reconceptualised and that a responsible understanding of human rights, property rights and international co-operation should lead to a change in the relationship between nation states in the trading arena.

Different perspectives on property rights

Hutton has analysed very different attitudes which may be discerned in the USA and Europe.