ABSTRACT

Despite the continuous addition of regulatory initiatives concerning corporate human rights responsibilities, what we witness more often than not is a situation of corporate impunity for human rights abuses. The Bhopal gas leak – examined as a site of human rights violations rather than as a mass tort or an environmental tragedy – illustrates that the regulatory challenges that the victims experienced in 1984 have not yet been overcome. This book grapples with and offers solutions to three major regulatory challenges to obligating companies to comply with human rights norms whilst doing business, and asks; why companies should adhere to human rights, what these responsibilities are, and how to ensure that companies comply with their responsibilities.

Building on literature in the fields of law, human rights, business ethics, management, regulation and philosophy, this book proposes a new ‘integrated theory of regulation’ to overcome inadequacies of the existing regulatory framework in order to humanize business.

This book will be of interest to scholars, students, researchers, policy makers and human rights activists working in the fields of Law, Business and Human Rights.

chapter |23 pages

Introduction

chapter |18 pages

Evaluation of existing regulatory initiatives

An analytical framework

chapter |55 pages

Existing regulatory initiatives

An evaluation of (in)adequacy

chapter |33 pages

Just profit or just profit

Why should corporations have human rights obligations?

chapter |24 pages

How to behave in ‘Rome'?

Determining standards applicable to MNCs

chapter |24 pages

The integrated theory of regulation

A critical response to ‘responsive regulation'

chapter |9 pages

Conclusion