The Cambridge Companion to Business and Human Rights Law

Ilias Bantekas, Michael Ashley Stein

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781108830379
• eBook ISBN:
  9781108908351
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Human Rights
• Index: Politics & International Relations

How can businesses operate profitably and sustainably while ensuring that they are applying human rights? It is possible to apply human rights while at the same time decreasing cost and making human rights contribute to profits. Yet business efforts alone are insufficient, and states must possess sufficient regulatory power to work together with businesses and investors – not only to improve human rights but also to foster development more broadly. This textbook, the first of its kind, explores all aspects of the links between business operations and human rights. Its twenty-five chapters guide readers systematically through all the particular features of this intersection, integrating legal and business approaches. Thematic sections cover conceptual and regulatory frameworks, remedies and dispute resolution, and practical enforcement tools. Ideal for courses in business, law, policy and international development, the book is also essential reading for managers in large corporations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Table of Cases
• List of Abbreviations
• 1 Business and Human Rights: Foundations and Linkages
• 2 Reconciling International Human Rights with International Trade
• 3 Neoliberalism, State-Capitalism and European Ordo-Liberalism: Why Power Politics and ‘Constitutional Failures’ Undermine Economic Law and Human Rights
• 4 Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility
• 5 The Role of Business in International Development and the Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals
• 6 The Business Case for Human Rights: Irrelevant or Indispensable?
• 7 The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Its Predecessors: Progress at a Snail’s Pace?
• 8 The Regulatory Framework of Multinational Enterprises
• 9 The UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Their Enforcement Mechanisms
• 10 Taxation and Business: The Human Rights Dimension of Corporate Tax Practices
• 11 Corporate Accountability for the Natural Environment and Climate Change
• 12 Corporate Accountability for Corruption and the Business Case for Transparency
• 13 Disability, Business and Human Rights
• 14 Gender, Business and Human Rights
• 15 The Business Sector and the Rights to Work and Just and Favourable Conditions of Work
• 16 Responsible Lending: Export Credit Agencies As Drivers of Human Rights
• 17 Business and Human Rights Approaches to Intellectual Property
• 18 The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration: State Obligations, Corporate Responsibility and Community Empowerment
• 19 The Use of International Arbitration Tribunals for Business and Human Rights Disputes
• 20 Innovative Contractual Remedies with Indigenous Peoples
• 21 The Role of Ethics in Corporate Human Rights Impact Assessments
• 22 Addressing Human Rights Impacts in Sustainability Reporting
• 23 Leveraging the Consumer-Led Movement to Strengthen Sustainable Business: Opportunities, Limitations and the Role of Companies to Empower Consumers
• 24 The Structural Complexity of Multinational Corporations and the Effect on Managing Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain
• 25 Towards a UN Business and Human Rights Treaty
• Index