Advancing the Business and Human Rights Treaty Project Through International Criminal Law: Assessing the Options for Legally-Binding Corporate Human Rights Obligations

Abstract

The current United Nations process for drafting a Business and Human Rights treaty employs international human rights law as its paradigmatic frame of reference, including for the scope of corporations’ legal obligations. Applying an evaluative framework based on Thomas Franck, Robert Keohane and David Victor’s works on the legitimacy and effectiveness of international law and governance, this Article critiques the use of international human rights law for this purpose. Instead, due to several conceptual and practical advantages, it argues that the set of corporate human rights obligations to be enshrined in this first treaty should be based on the narrower scope of international criminal law.

Keywords: business and human rights; international criminal law; legitimacy; global governance; international law; treaty-making