ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the Optional Protocol can be used as a catalyst for progressive legal thinking about corporate accountability. It introduces some possible strategic approaches to the instrument's use in the context of corporate accountability. The chapter presents some observations on how these strategies could be applied in the context of transitional justice. It outlines preliminary strategies on how the new mechanisms created by the Optional Protocol could be used to advance corporate accountability for human rights violations, particularly in transitional states. Besides, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) infringements not only constitute violations of international human rights law; they are also often the root cause of gross civil and political rights violations involving companies, and they create tensions within societies that lead to conflicts. Extraterritorial human rights obligations refer to states' obligation to guarantee human rights outside their territorial boundaries.
