An investigation of the corporate accountability for human rights violations under exisitng regulations

Abstract

As a result of the abnormal control and enormous influence of transnational corporations (TNCs) within the corporate world, the international community has become aware of the potential damage TNCs may cause to the subjects and the impacts they may have on local cultures and initiatives. For example, many TNCs are involved in transgressive activities by operating in developing states and violating human rights such as right to life, right to clean water, right to health environment, etc. Disappointingly, states are often implementing effective enforcing mechanisms for the corporate human rights accountability because they heavily rely upon these global giants for their economic prosperity, i.e., resources extracted by the TNCs for generating profit. Thus, states tend to lack the political will and economic competence to successfully regulate the unethical and illegal operations performed by TNCs, providing the TNCs with an almost free pass to impede human rights and violate them with the vicinity of their performance. Efforts to address human rights abuses by TNCs go back to the early twentieth century, but it was not until the 1970s that the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) began to gain prominence. Since putting the concept into practice, several major international regulatory initiatives have been adopted to fill the accountability gap. For example, the UN Global Compact, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, International Labour Organisation, Extractive Industries Transparency, and Alien Tort Claims Act 1789. Unfortunately, all these initiatives have proved inadequate in both form and effect in tackling the issue of human rights abuses attributed to TNCs. This is because of their non-voluntary nature, limited scope, and the extent of implementation. These instruments were criticised as merely political commitments lacking the legal binding force for their enforcement and implementation. Thus, this thesis calls for a widely ratified treaty on businesses and human rights and comprehensively analyses recent work by the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) in this regard; specifically, the formation of the Zero Draft 2018, Second Revised Draft 2020, and the Third Revised Draft 2021 of the binding treaty. Primarily, the thesis will focus on analysing the provisions of these drafts, which can become the content of the much awaited legally binding mechanism (treaty), filling the vacuum created by the preceding regulatory mechanisms on businesses and human rights and regulate human rights abuses. This thesis also critically analyses the alternatives to the binding treaty and makes recommendations for the formation of an effective widely ratified treaty on businesses and human rights.