[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Human Rights
Do private companies have a responsibility to respect human rights? This question, once marginal, is becoming a matter of concern to companies, as well as governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, investors and consumers. Of course, it is not novel to argue that companies should behave ethically. On protection of the environment or workers’ rights, companies have long been subject to regulation by government as well as lobbying by advocacy organizations. It is new, however, to say that companies may have a legal duty to respect human rights. Human rights advocates, who have traditionally focused on government accountability, are beginning to look hard at the conduct of private actors, including businesses. For the most part, work on corporate accountability has emphasized voluntary approaches – systems of self-regulation based on ethical principles rather than forms of legal accountability supported by mechanisms to enforce them. This is true of company-sponsored codes of conduct, the United Nations Global Compact, and many NGO initiatives.
Those involved may refer to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or international labor standards as a proper basis for company policy, but such standards have generally not been treated as legal commitments.Can international human rights law be applied not only to states but also to private actors? The issue is complex. This is one reason why debate and campaigning have largely avoided it. As the limitations of voluntary approaches become plain, however, companies, campaigners and legal experts are beginning to accept that international law is relevant and the issue of legal enforcement must eventually be addressed .
International law includes rules found in agreements between states, usually referred to as treaties or conventions, as well as rules derived from the practice of states, developed over time, that may or may not be found in treaties. The latter are referred to as customary rules of international law.....
