Beyond Guilty Verdicts: Human Rights Litigation and its Impact on Corporations’ Human Rights Policies

Abstract

During the last years, there has been an increasing discussion on the role of business in human rights violations and an increase in human rights litigation against companies.

Bridging the great divide? Making sense of the human rights-CSR relationship in UK multinational companies

“…Some commentators argue that MNEs increasingly act as political and/or quasi-state entities (Wettstein, 2009) wielding significant power and authority within the international political system (Korbrin, 2009), making them difficult to regulate. Finally, there is an argument that the negative social impacts MNEs are associated with, particularly with respect to HR, do not simply concern the legality of their actions, but their relationship, and often complicity, with other actors such as host governments (Giuliani & Macchi, 2014;Korbrin, 2009;Schrempf-Stirling & Wettstein, 2015). Kolk (2010Kolk ( , 2016 recommends approaching CSR in terms of understanding the socio-environmental issues and pressures that MNEs face.…”

“…BHR issues are not inherently confined to IB, since small and local firms can be involved in rights abuses (Giuliani, 2016). However they are rarely discussed in a purely domestic context, and certain issues are only meaningful in an international context such as complicity with oppressive regimes (Giuliani & Macchi, 2014;Schrempf-Stirling & Wettstein, 2015). The rapid increase in the number, power and wealth of MNEs, as well as the outsourcing of production to foreign suppliers, has brought into sharp focus vastly different national systems and expectations (legal, economic and cultural) that managers are faced with (Muchlinski, 2001).…”

Corporate Remediation of Human Rights Violations: A Restorative Justice Framework

“…Although states have the primary obligation to protect human rights, companies should also be held accountable for infringing on and abusing human rights through direct as well as indirect involvement (Cragg et al 2012;Wettstein 2012). Since the protection of individuals and communities against corporate-related human rights harm is not legally enforceable on a global scale (Schrempf-Stirling and Wettstein 2017;Skinner et al 2013), the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations attempt to get human rights obligations into companies' radar systems with the help of "soft law" instruments. These instruments are "not legally binding and do not have any enforcement mechanisms but (…) aim to establish principles and standards of good practice" (Pariotti 2009, p. 145).…”

Human Rights, Emerging Markets, and International Business

“…Irrespective of where such lawsuits have been brought to court and on what grounds, most of them were dismissed in the past. Very few of them led to out-of-court settlements and none of them ended in a guilty verdict against a Western par ent company (Schrempf-Stirling & Wettstein, 2017). In one case, Milieudefensie v. Shell, adjudicated in the Netherlands, a Nigerian subsidiary of Shell was found guilty of human rights abuse, while the parent company was acquitted from any wrongdoing.…”

“…Having a closer look particular ly at such lawsuits we can observe that they tend to fail particularly in the legal domain. However, in most cases they push companies to adopt and commit to soft-law initiatives, to start reporting on their human rights performance, or to implement other measures and safeguards to ensure human rights respect (Schrempf-Stirling & Wettstein, 2017). Thus, while the lawsuits seem not to lead to the desired "hard" results, they strengthen PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com).…”