A BINDING INSTRUMENT ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: SOME THOUGHTS FOR AN EFFECTIVE NEXT STEP IN INTERNATIONAL LAW, BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

The search for a tool to compel corporate accountability for human rights violations is longstanding. The adoption of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on the elaboration of a binding instrument and the establishment of an intergovernmental working group represents the latest stage in the evolution of attempts to regulate multinational corporations. The move to develop a binding instrument on business and human rights is divisive. As such, it requires a thorough analysis, both of its proposed content but also of the outcome we could hope to achieve through such an instrument. This article analyses the proposed creation and content of a binding instrument as well as the conceptualisation and implementation of a binding instrument.

Keywords

• human rights
• business
• united nations guiding principles on business and human rights
• multinational corporations