The Business and Human Rights Regime Under International Law: Remedy Without Law?

Abstract

The chapter explores whether there can be an effective remedy absent (hard) law in the field of business and human rights. It examines two international procedures that might present victims of corporate human rights violations with a remedy: the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises (UNWG) and a proposal for an International Arbitration Tribunal on Business and Human Rights (IAT Proposal). It reflects upon whether those redress procedures predate binding corporate obligations under international human rights law. In so doing, it engages with the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the broader debate concerning the status of non-State actors in international law.

Keywords: Business and Human Rights, Corporate Accountability, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Remedy