ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses explicitly on the subject of international trade law and its effect on human rights. It examines the position of multinational corporations in international trade law as it relates to human rights. The chapter addresses two of the common assertions about the relationship between human rights and trade law, namely that ‘free trade is good for the poor’, and that ‘human rights has no part in trade law’. It considers a selection of existing trade law provisions that address human rights and assesses the potential for them to be applied and extended to enforce internationally recognised human rights standards, including corporations. The chapter looks to the round of World Trade Organisation trade negotiations as an avenue for strengthening human rights as they are affected in the course of international trade. It concludes that a degree of trade law reform is necessary to enable more effective protection and promotion of human rights in the course of commerce.
