Human rights and development: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:08, 25 September 2019

Revision as of 20:05, 2 November 2019

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In 2000 the UN established the [[United Nations Global Compact|Global Compact]]<ref>{{cite web|title=UN Global Compact|url=http://www.unglobalcompact.org/}}</ref> which call on business leaders "embrace and enact' a set of 10 principles relating to human rights, labour rights, environmental protections and corruption. The compact did not include a mechanism for dispute resolution. In response to this criticism integrity measures were introduced in 2005 which created a complaints procedure for systematic abuse of the compacts overall aims and principles.<ref>{{cite book|last=McBeth et all|first=Adam|title=The International Law of Human Rights|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|___location=Oxford|pages=615–624}}</ref>

In 2003 a UN subcommission on the promotion and protection of Human Rights adopted a set of international norms applying to TNC's and other business they are based on international instruments, non binding declarations and guidelines adopted by multilateral organizations. The norms include 1) general obligations; 2) rights to equal opportunity and non-discriminatory treatment; 3) rights to security of persons; 4) rights of workers 5) respect for national sovereignty and human rights; 6) obligations with regard to consumer protection; 7) obligations with regard to environmental protection 8) general provisions of implementation and 9) definitions. The norms however do not have legal status and are unlikely to be developed further and the subcomissionsubcommission is now replaced by the [[Human Rights Council Advisory Committee]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Rights Council Advisory Committee|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/AdvisoryCommittee/Pages/AboutAC.aspx}}</ref>

There has also emerged over the past decades a proliferation of company specific and multi-stakeholder codes of conduct such as the [[Sullivan principles]] and as such hundreds of companies have now publicly committed to upholding basic human rights. Codes of conduct are regarded as part of the soft law regime and are not legally binding but the general normative effect may lead to legal effect as standards may be incorporated into employment and agency contracts.