The State Duty to Protect Against Business-Related Human Rights Abuses. Unpacking Pillar 1 and 3 of the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Business

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lagoutte
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Duty To Protect ◽  
Guiding Principles

scholarly journals The State Duty to Protect against Human Rights Violations through Transnational Business Activities

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 13-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Krajewski
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Environmental Laws ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Duty To Protect ◽  
Respective State

Transnational corporations are currently not formally bound by international human rights obligations. Instead, states have a duty to protect individuals against human rights abuses by third parties, including corporations. While it is undisputed that this obligation extends to all individuals living on the territory of the respective state, the extraterritorial scope of the duty to protect remains contested. This is especially the case for human rights violations through transnational business activities. The state on whose territory the violation occurs has a duty to protect human rights by adopting and implementing labour and environmental laws applicable in that state. However, it is less clear if and to what extent the state of the main seat of the mother company or the global ordering company — the ‘home state’ — also has a human rights duty to regulate transnational business activity. This article argues that such a duty can be based on existing human rights doctrine and standards of general international law such as the ‘no harm’ rule and the due diligence principle. It argues that states have a duty to regulate transnational business activities of corporations over which they exercise jurisdiction if human rights violations caused by such activities are predictable and preventable. In its final part, the article assesses various approaches in state practice which could be seen as instruments in the fulfilment of the duty to regulate transnational business activities.

3. Human Rights in International Relations

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Dunne ◽  
Marianne Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
International Responsibility ◽  
Duty To Protect ◽  
Theoretical Issues

This chapter examines the role of human rights in international relations. It first considers the theoretical issues and context that are relevant to the link between human rights and the discipline of international relations, focusing on such concepts as realism, liberalism, and constructivism. It then explores key controversies over human rights as understood in international relations as a field of study: one is the question of state sovereignty; another is the mismatch between the importance attached to human rights at the declaratory level and the prevalence of human rights abuses in reality. The chapter also discusses two dimensions of international responsibility: the duty to protect their citizens that is incumbent on all states in light of their obligations under the various human rights covenants; and the duty of states to act as humanitarian rescuers in instances where a state is collapsing or a regime is committing gross human rights violations.

State responsibility for community defence groups gone rogue

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Jemma Arman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
National Crisis ◽  
Security Services

Abstract In situations of national crisis, it is not uncommon to see community members join together to provide security services to their communities, gap-filling or supplementing the security services of the State. These “community defence groups” perform many roles, from operating checkpoints and conducting surveillance missions to patrolling roads and even participating in combined combat operations with the State. Unfortunately, while many community defence groups perform an important service for their community, some have been accused of serious human rights abuses or even war crimes. This article examines the circumstances in which a State might be responsible in relation to wrongful acts of community defence groups operating within their territory. Each community defence group differs in its structure, its activities and its relationship with the State. As such, any assessment of the potential responsibility of the State will depend upon the particulars of each group and its operations. The contribution of this article is to provide a framework for assessing State responsibility in relation to community defence groups. It does so by examining the potential attribution of acts of the community defence group to the State, applying secondary rules of State responsibility. In addition, it also considers the potential responsibilities of the State under primary rules of international law, namely international humanitarian law and international human rights law, in circumstances where the primary wrongful act is not attributable to the State.

scholarly journals Migrants at Sea: A Duty of Plural States to Protect (Extraterritorially)?

2017 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vassilis P. Tzevelekos ◽  
Elena Katselli Proukaki
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Duty To Protect ◽  
Failure To Protect ◽  
State Liability ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
High Seas

Although migration is a transnational phenomenon involving a plurality of states, the state of departure is often unwilling/unable to offer protection. Receiving/transit states can refrain from engaging with the problem until migrants have already entered their territory. With high seas, this can result in the deaths of people taking the risk of travelling to a new place. The article argues that states have a duty to offer (some) protection even when migrants are not in their territory, based on human rights’ positive effect and the principle of due diligence. Because of the transnational nature of migration, all involved states have the responsibility to offer protection. This may lead to concurrent state liability for failure to protect. The duty to protect may extend to the high seas, even when the traditional links for the establishment of jurisdiction are absent. The duty is not unlimited, it needs to prevail over other considerations.

scholarly journals Democratization as a Protective Layering for Crimes Against Humanity: The Case of Myanmar

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-89
Author(s):  
Anna Plunkett
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Community ◽  
The State ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Regime Transition ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
History Of

Myanmar has a history of state sanctioned violence against its own people. However, as the regime transition occurs the methods of conducting such violence have also changed. This has not led to an end to violence but an alteration in the methods used by the state. What can be identified is the use of democratic regime transition to legitimise the state’s actions whilst delegitimising the plight of communities that have historically resisted the state. By engaging in the minimal standards of democratic practice whilst developing relations with the international community on the basis of trade, Myanmar has been able to create a protective layering system for its continued human rights abuses within its borderlands. This paper will analyse how Myanmar has effectively coopted the international community into ignoring the continuation of human rights abuses by creating an effectives market for its valuable resources. It will focus on the cases in Karen and Kachin State, two sub-regions within Myanmar that have experienced prolonged conflict and where human rights abuses continue with little oversight from the international community.

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