Pluralism, Global Law and Human Rights: Strengthening Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Violations

Abstract

Though a Rothschild you may be, in your own capacity, As a Company you’ve come to utter sorrow, But the liquidators say, ‘Never mind – you needn’t pay’, So you start another Company Tomorrow!

Corporations as legal entities were created by states mainly to assist individuals to combine capital and to be protected from personal liability. The legal institution of a corporation, whose existence and operation is entirely enabled by law, is found in every major legal system. Yet their specific form and legal responsibilities are defined by each state under that state’s national law, leading to considerable diversity worldwide. An area of increased legal activity in relation to corporations has been with regard to their responsibility for human rights abuses. In particular, there have been a number of attempts to move towards binding international legal obligations on corporations for their activities that impact on human rights.

Keywords: international law, human rights, corporations

JEL Classification: K33, K39