ABSTRACT

In a now famous case before the US Supreme Court in 2012, the lawyers acting for Shell, the multinational oil corporation, quoted John Ruggie in support of their plea to have the case against them thrown out:

We cite the U.N. Special Representative, saying ‘I have looked at the international human rights instruments that are out there, and I find no basis for corporate liability.’ That’s the U.N. [speaking], not Congress.