Reconciling Human Rights and Supply Chain Management Through Corporate Social Responsibility
Forthcoming in Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Kasey McCall-Smith and Duncan French (eds), Linkages and Boundaries in Private and Public International Law, Hart Publishing; ISBN: 9781509918621
22 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2016 Last revised: 22 Feb 2018
Date Written: December 21, 2016
Abstract
The management of global supply chains is primarily concerned with the planning and organisation of the supply process that ultimately provides the buyer at the head of the chain with the goods or parts that they have ordered so as to maximise efficiency in terms of both delivery and costs. Preventing violations of human rights in those chains is a matter for corporate social responsibility. This paper discusses the ways in which corporate social responsibility can reconcile human rights and supply chain management. To that end, it will present the public international law and private international law barriers to weaving legal human rights accountability into global supply chain management. This discussion will be complemented by a case study of the smartphone industry, which is an area where frequent corporate social responsibility violations in global supply chains have been reported. The paper concludes by suggesting the development of a hybrid regulatory approach to the promotion of corporate social responsibility, which transcends the limitations of public and private international law in supply chain management.
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights, Supply Chain Management, Contract Law
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