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Introduction

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Human Rights in Transnational Business

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Abstract

The rising influence of corporate actors on the international stage meant that they became involved more frequently in human rights violations in their places of operation. To date, these violations cannot be addressed judicially because existing legal frameworks target individuals for human rights violations rather than the complex judicial entity. Adjudicating corporate misconduct abroad has become a pressing issue for both the law and the economy, as corporate human rights violations have become costly, both for companies and indigenous peoples.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The terms transnational corporations, corporations, multinationals and companies will be used in an interchangeable fashion when referencing any judicial person engaged in business ventures in more than one country.

  2. 2.

    Schniederjahn (2013), p. 101; Shinsato (2005), p. 187; Feldberg (2008), p. 36.

  3. 3.

    Koeltz (2010), p. 44; Cernic (2006), p. 20; Ratner (2001–2002), p. 447.

  4. 4.

    Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum , 569 U. S, 10-1491 2013. Karp (2014), p. 15.

  5. 5.

    Karp (2014), p. 19. Class actions, unlike traditional dispute cases, have the ability to considerably affect the bottom line of corporations.

  6. 6.

    Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350.

  7. 7.

    Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum , Case No. 10-1491 (2011), Petitioners Brief, p. 3: “The Nigerian military, aided and abetted by respondents and their agents, engaged in a widespread and systematic campaign of torture, extrajudicial executions, prolonged arbitrary detention, and indiscriminate killings constituting crimes against humanity to violently suppress this movement.”

  8. 8.

    Nigeria : Potential, Growth and Challenges.

  9. 9.

    Nigeria : Potential, Growth and Challenges.

  10. 10.

    Nigeria : Potential, Growth and Challenges.

  11. 11.

    Corporate responsibility refers to the legal, social and moral obligations imposed on a corporation with regard to international human rights law. Corporate accountability refers to the actual mechanism of holding corporations liable under international law because they have infringed human rights law.

  12. 12.

    The party seeking the Supreme Court to review a case does so by asking the Court to issue a writ of certiorari. If the Court decides to review a case, it grants certiorari. If the Court decides not to review the case it denies certiorari. Cornell Law School.

  13. 13.

    Fowler (1995), p. 3; Shinsato (2005), p. 186; Ratner (2001–2002), pp. 452 et seq.

  14. 14.

    Bradley (2001), p. 458.

  15. 15.

    Slaughter and Bosco (2000), p. 106.

  16. 16.

    Paul (2001), p. 286; Shinsato (2005), p. 188; Pegg (2003), p. 9.

  17. 17.

    Paul (2001), p. 286; Ratner (2001–2002), p. 458.

  18. 18.

    Hristova (2012–2013), p. 89; Fabig (1999), p. 309.

  19. 19.

    York Lunau, Economic ethic of the University of St. Gallen in an Interview with brand eins magazine in 2004, Volume 10/2004, p. 74. Compare Loomis 1999, p. 155.

  20. 20.

    Amao (2011), p. 1.

  21. 21.

    Wilson (2000), p. 13. See also Amao (2011), p. 3.

  22. 22.

    Karp (2014), p. 152; Compare Forstmoser (2008), p. 198; Roth (2014), p. 11; Cernic (2010), p. 19; Paust (2002), p. 802; Ratner (2001–2002), p. 460.

  23. 23.

    Roth (2014), p. 18.

  24. 24.

    Economy Watch.

  25. 25.

    Oil in Africa, The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/news/specials/oil_q_a/.

  26. 26.

    World Consumption Per Country, Global Firepower, http://www.globalfirepower.com/oil-consumption-by-country.asp.

  27. 27.

    World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2241rank.html.

  28. 28.

    Shell Interests in Nigeria .

  29. 29.

    Karp (2014), p. 18.

  30. 30.

    Nike has been accused of poor working conditions, human trafficking and child labor. See: How Nike solved its sweatshop problem, Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nike-solved-its-sweatshop-problem-2013-5?IR=T.

  31. 31.

    Sinaltrainal v. Coca-Cola Company, 578 F. 3d 1252 (2009). Coca-Cola was accused of aiding paramilitaries in Colombia in the killing of several trade union members: Union Says Coca-Cola in Colombia Uses Thugs, The New York Times, http://web.archive.org/web/20051109163731/http://www.usleap.org/Colombia/Coke/NYT7-26-01UnionSaysCocaColainColombiaUsesThugs.htm.

  32. 32.

    Examples include: When it comes to branding, just do it right, World Finance, http://www.worldfinance.com/strategy/corporate-governance-strategy/when-it-comes-to-branding-just-do-it-right.

    See also: Coca-Cola boycott launched after killings at Colombian plants, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jul/24/marketingandpr.colombia. Additionally: How activism forced Nike to change its ethical game, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2012/jul/06/activism-nike.

  33. 33.

    Roth (2014), p. 40.

  34. 34.

    Du and Viera (2012), p. 1.

  35. 35.

    Roth (2014), p. 40.

  36. 36.

    Du and Viera (2012), p. 1.

  37. 37.

    Du and Viera (2012), p. 2.

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  1. Universität Luzern, Luzern, Switzerland

    Julia Ruth-Maria Wetzel

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Wetzel, J.RM. (2016). Introduction. In: Human Rights in Transnational Business. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31325-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31325-2_1

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