Business & Human Rights : A New Era of Accountability?

Issues of human rights are now central to the way in which business engages in cross-border transactions. The publication in 2011 of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights highlights the relevance of the conduct of corporations and their complicity in human rights abuses. The modern commercial environment makes the issue of corporate liability particularly complex. Markets, corporations and the State each are undergoing radical change and hence the rationale and shape of a legal liability regime must change. States are the traditional bearers of human rights duties to their citizens. The ‘vertical' duty of States to protect human rights and provide appropriate remedial avenues continues to be an important safeguard of human rights. However, there are good reasons for the law to impose direct (‘horizontal') liability upon corporations for breaches of international human rights norms. The choice between vertical and horizontal models is not binary. International commercial law – the new law merchant – is a creature of equity's approach to the development of law, being based on reason and conscience. General principles of law, including international human rights law, are built into the very foundation and fabric of international commercial law, which is part of domestic law