The historical experience of Sullivan Principles and their importance for developing self-regulation of the conduct of corporations according to human rights

Abstract

This article aims, in general, to study the Sullivan Principles and their importance for the development of self-regulation of business conduct in accordance with Human and fundamental rights. The problem that drove this research was: how has the development of the Sullivan Principles occurred, and how has such a project influenced later experiences? As a hypothesis, it is pointed out that the experience of the Sullivan Principles triggered a series of normative and reflexive processes, inserting the self-regulation of corporative social responsibility as a component factor of contemporary Law. Its specific objectives are: i) to undertake a historical reconstruction of the creation and development of the Sullivan Principles as a self-regulatory and reflexive normative experience; ii) to analyze important subsequent initiatives (such as the MacBride Principles and the Shell Case) aiming to identify the influence and importance of the Sullivan Principles. Results: the Sullivan Principles pioneered as guiding principles of self-regulation, capable of causing irritation in other orders, motivating new legal forms. The numerous codes of business ethics, the current recurring normative form and representatives of the reflexivity of contemporary law, are consequences of the political, economic and normative processes originated from the Sullivan initiative. Methodology: historical-evolutionary and hypothetical-deductive methods of procedure, with a qualitative approach and bibliographic-documentary research technique.