Corporations and human rights: A theory of legal responsibility

Recent years have brought significant interest by, governments, international institutions, and nongovernmental organizations in the impact of the activities of transnational corporations on human rights. Corporations have haltingly, responded to this phenomenon, but a comprehensive normative framework for resolving these competing claims is still lacking. This Article posits that international law offers a way to develop and circumscribe duties on corporations that avoids the risks inherent in wholly domestic legal approaches. It demonstrates the need for corporate accountability as an alternative to holding only, states or individuals responsible for human rights abuses and shows that global decisionmakers have already, taken significant steps in recognizing duties on business enterprises. Building on conceptual foundations in the law of nations, moral philosophy, and corporate law, the Article develops a theory in which the corporation's duties turn on four factors-its ties to the government, its nexus to affected populations, the particular human right at issue, and the internal structure of the business enterprise. It further seeks to apply, the theory to several claims leveled against corporations and proposes a variety of means by, which states and other actors can operationalize such an approach in global decisionmaking arenas.