Societas delinquere non potest? In Search for the Adequate Measure to Address Company Criminal Liability for Human Rights Violations. Polish Perspective.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylwia Broniszewska-Emdin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Adequate Measure

Addressing Human Rights Concerns in the Extractive Resource Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa using the Lens of Article 46 (C) of the Malabo Protocol

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 843-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oyeniyi Abe ◽  
Ada Ordor
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Resource Industry ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Corporate Criminal Liability

Abstract In June 2014, the African Union, Heads of States and Government adopted the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (known in short as the Malabo Protocol). If ratified, the Protocol would expand the jurisdiction of the proposed African Court of Justice and Human Rights to adjudicate matters of corporate criminal liability in Africa. This paper analyses the prospects of advancing corporate respect for human rights and access to judicial remedies by victims of corporate human rights abuse through the lens of Article 46 (C) of the Malabo Protocol. The departure point is that the adoption and ratification of the Protocol would be an important step in preventing or stopping human rights violations by corporate actors in Africa’s extractive resource industry. This position is predicated on the inference that the expanded jurisdiction provided by the Malabo Protocol is consistent with the commitment of African countries to implement Pillar II of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles) on respect for human rights by corporate entities. In addition, the Malabo Protocol’s proposal to adjudicate corporate criminal liability is consistent with Pillar III of the Guiding Principles on the provision of remedies for human rights violations. Creating a regional approach to address corporate criminality is an important African solution to a pressing African problem.

scholarly journals Corporate Responsibility for Transnational Human Rights Violations under German Criminal Law – Review and Outlook

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-409
Author(s):  
Petra Wittig
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Economic Profit ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
The Usa

Time and again, cases come to light in which companies in unstable regions have participated in crimes, including human rights violations. However, the economic power over these companies is regularly geographically distant, anchored in the stable regions of the world, e.g. in a corporate headquarters located in Europe, the USA, Canada or Australia, where the economic profit ultimately accrues. Starting from this imbalance, the present essay examines the question of the criminal (co-)responsibility of these power holders using the example of the German legal system. It becomes apparent that the concept of criminal law, which is still based almost exclusively on individual responsibility, leads to deficits in the investigation of the most serious economically driven crimes. Despite this need for reform, however, even de lege lata a top management based in Germany can be held (jointly) liable for distant crimes under the concept of "principal’s criminal liability" (“Geschäftsherrenhaftung”).”

Corporations, international crimes and national courts: a Norwegian view

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (887) ◽  
pp. 1007-1025
Author(s):  
Simon O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Penal Code ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Potential Consequence ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Geographical Scope

AbstractFor a number of reasons, questions regarding the accountability of corporations for actions that might be complicit in the commission of international crimes have gained prominence in recent times. Though initiatives regarding what is more broadly described as business and human rights are to be welcomed, this sometimes distracts from existing systems of accountability, especially when those acts, which may be discussed as human rights violations, equally constitute crimes. Whilst not all criminal jurisdictions extend to legal persons, the Norwegian Penal Code does. This article analyses the Norwegian Penal Code's provisions, in light of amendments made to it in 2008 to include international crimes in it, with the effect of extending those crimes to corporations. The article first addresses the personal, material, temporal, and geographical scope of the penal code. It then addresses the potential consequence of the exercise of jurisdiction in light of the only case in recent times in Norway that deals explicitly with a corporation's potential criminal liability for war crimes. The article then addresses three additional issues with respect to provisions on complicity, intent, and defences under the Norwegian Penal Code, before concluding with some reflections on the possible future effects of this legislation and the possibility that it will inspire developments elsewhere.

Die strafrechtliche Verantwortung von Geschäftsführern für Menschenrechtsverletzungen nach dem Römischen Statut

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank F. Torres Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Rome Statute ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Transnational Companies ◽  
Participation Theory

Transnational corporations are accused of involvement in the most serious human rights violations such as crimes against humanity and war crimes. The focus of thise investigation is to answer the question, whether directors of transnational companies can be held criminally responsible for the most serious human rights violations under the Rome Statute. The work focuses on the forms of perpetration, in particular on indirect perpetration by virtue of control over an organisation and complicity as well on the responsibility of civil superiors. In order to justify criminal liability, German criminal law dogmatics are first referred to, especially in the area of participation theory, because it has great importance for the Rome Statute. The author also evaluates the judicial decisions of the ICC and literature and then examines whether these legal figures apply to cases of human rights violations through business activities.

Social representations of human rights violations: Further evidence

2001 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Clémence ◽  
Thierry Devos ◽  
Willem Doise
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Questionnaire Study ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
High Tolerance ◽  
Individual Actions

Social representations of human rights violations were investigated in a questionnaire study conducted in five countries (Costa Rica, France, Italy, Romania, and Switzerland) (N = 1239 young people). We were able to show that respondents organize their understanding of human rights violations in similar ways across nations. At the same time, systematic variations characterized opinions about human rights violations, and the structure of these variations was similar across national contexts. Differences in definitions of human rights violations were identified by a cluster analysis. A broader definition was related to critical attitudes toward governmental and institutional abuses of power, whereas a more restricted definition was rooted in a fatalistic conception of social reality, approval of social regulations, and greater tolerance for institutional infringements of privacy. An atypical definition was anchored either in a strong rejection of social regulations or in a strong condemnation of immoral individual actions linked with a high tolerance for governmental interference. These findings support the idea that contrasting definitions of human rights coexist and that these definitions are underpinned by a set of beliefs regarding the relationships between individuals and institutions.

American and Canadian Civil Actions Alleging Human Rights Violations Abroad by Oil and Gas Companies

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Horlick ◽  
Joe Cyr ◽  
Scott Reynolds ◽  
Andrew Behrman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
Forum Non Conveniens ◽  
The Government ◽  
Oil And Gas Companies ◽  
Political Question ◽  
The U.S

Under the United States Alien Tort Statute, which permits non-U.S. citizens to bring lawsuits in U.S. courts for human rights violations that are violations of the law of nations, plaintiffs have filed claims against multinational oil and gas corporations for the direct or complicit commission of such violations carried out by the government of the country in which the corporation operated. In addition to exercising jurisdiction over U.S. corporations, U.S. courts have exercised jurisdiction in cases involving non-U.S. defendants for alleged wrongful conduct against non-U.S. plaintiffs committed outside the U.S.The exercise of jurisdiction by U.S. courts over non-U.S. defendants for alleged wrongful conduct against non-U.S. plaintiffs committed outside of the U.S. raises serious questions as to the jurisdictional foundation on which the power of U.S. courts to adjudicate them rests. Defences that foreign defendants can raise against the exercise of jurisdiction by the U.S. courts are an objection to the extraterritorial assertion of jurisdiction, the act of state doctrine, the political question doctrine, forum non conveniens, and the principle of comity. These defences are bolstered by the support of the defendant’s home government and other governments.

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