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Making business enterprises accountable for human rights abuses committed in their supply chains

3.9.2013, Maisteritutkielma

The thesis examines the business enterprise responsability in relation to human rights abuses. It concludes that all-voluntary regulation cannot guarantee responsibility in all circumstances and capture all market actors from running wild in the developing countries. It argues that binding, international legal framework is needed to prevent, punish and remedy especially the grossest human rights abuses and to create equal and effec-tive market conditions for all the actors in world trade. While states shall remain primarily responsible for protecting human rights, corporations should respect human rights in a wider scope. The now voluntary CSR should be regulated, harmonized, and made, at least in part, a binding legal obligation for all businesses worldwide. What is required is effective implementation of the ethical standards at the corporate level, including due diligence duties and grievance, investigation, sanctions, and remedy mechanisms reaching operations of all the business partners in a supply chain. A sanctions mechanism to be efficient, a wide scope of business-related human rights harms should be criminalized and national courts should be granted extraterritorial jurisdictions and powers to sue not only individuals but corporate entities as well.

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