TY - BOOK

T1 - Towards Normative Transformation: Re-Conceptualising Business and Human Rights

AU - MacLeod, Sorcha

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - This dissertation examines the ongoing problem of business actors violatinghuman rights and the regulatory attempts to deal with the problem at theinternational level. In particular, it considers the work of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Business Human Rights, John Ruggie and the‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework as elaborated in the 2011 UN GuidingPrinciples on Business and Human Rights. It also critically analyses the UN GlobalCompact, the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises as well asdevelopments in the European Union in this area. Each of these regulatorymechanisms demonstrates elements of new governance, hybrid or third waymodels of regulation such as voluntarism, wide participation throughmultistakeholder structures and subsidiarity, all of which are useful soft lawtechniques that contribute to a culture of human rights or human rights norminternalisation. Nevertheless, they fall down in failing to provide a normativeregulatory framework which would address human rights abuses by businessactors which remain unresponsive to soft law models of regulation. Specifically,there is a lack of redress for the victims of human rights abuses by businessactors and the current regulatory models do not offer a deterrent to orpunishment of such abuses. This dissertation argues that the internationalcommunity must thus re-conceptualise the business and human rights problemand move towards a mandatory international legal paradigm.New governance models have emerged from a changing international legalparadigm and they represent a move away from State-centric regulation towardsthe complementary co-existence of hard and soft rules in one domain. Whilemany of the new governance techniques offer useful means of internalising ahuman rights culture within the business community and thus helping to preventhuman rights abuses, nevertheless, the lack of normative rules means that nobinding redress mechanisms or remedies are available. A true new governanceapproach allows both normative and non-normative standards to co-exist. Giventhat the voluntary business and human rights initiatives alone have failed toaddress the problem adequately, a new international normative approach isnecessary. This thesis posits that re-conceptualising business actors as humanrights dutyholders does not require a major paradigm shift. International lawhas always recognised business actors as subjects of international law, oralternatively, participants at minimum, and there is no good reason why theycannot be subject to human rights obligations. This thesis advocates theapplication of a horizontal approach to human rights which encompasses humanrights violations by business actors. At present, a conservative, positivist andState-centric perspective of international law prevails, which prioritises themaintenance of State sovereignty over the rights of individuals not to be abusedby business actors.The law is correct as of October 2011.

AB - This dissertation examines the ongoing problem of business actors violatinghuman rights and the regulatory attempts to deal with the problem at theinternational level. In particular, it considers the work of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Business Human Rights, John Ruggie and the‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework as elaborated in the 2011 UN GuidingPrinciples on Business and Human Rights. It also critically analyses the UN GlobalCompact, the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises as well asdevelopments in the European Union in this area. Each of these regulatorymechanisms demonstrates elements of new governance, hybrid or third waymodels of regulation such as voluntarism, wide participation throughmultistakeholder structures and subsidiarity, all of which are useful soft lawtechniques that contribute to a culture of human rights or human rights norminternalisation. Nevertheless, they fall down in failing to provide a normativeregulatory framework which would address human rights abuses by businessactors which remain unresponsive to soft law models of regulation. Specifically,there is a lack of redress for the victims of human rights abuses by businessactors and the current regulatory models do not offer a deterrent to orpunishment of such abuses. This dissertation argues that the internationalcommunity must thus re-conceptualise the business and human rights problemand move towards a mandatory international legal paradigm.New governance models have emerged from a changing international legalparadigm and they represent a move away from State-centric regulation towardsthe complementary co-existence of hard and soft rules in one domain. Whilemany of the new governance techniques offer useful means of internalising ahuman rights culture within the business community and thus helping to preventhuman rights abuses, nevertheless, the lack of normative rules means that nobinding redress mechanisms or remedies are available. A true new governanceapproach allows both normative and non-normative standards to co-exist. Giventhat the voluntary business and human rights initiatives alone have failed toaddress the problem adequately, a new international normative approach isnecessary. This thesis posits that re-conceptualising business actors as humanrights dutyholders does not require a major paradigm shift. International lawhas always recognised business actors as subjects of international law, oralternatively, participants at minimum, and there is no good reason why theycannot be subject to human rights obligations. This thesis advocates theapplication of a horizontal approach to human rights which encompasses humanrights violations by business actors. At present, a conservative, positivist andState-centric perspective of international law prevails, which prioritises themaintenance of State sovereignty over the rights of individuals not to be abusedby business actors.The law is correct as of October 2011.

UR - http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3714/

M3 - Ph.D. thesis

BT - Towards Normative Transformation: Re-Conceptualising Business and Human Rights

PB - University of Glasgow

CY - Glasgow

ER -