Addressing the human rights conduct of transnational corporations through international institutional bypasses

Abstract

ABSTRACTCan different attempts by the international community to improve the human rights (HR) conduct of transnational corporations (TNCs) be characterised as international institutional bypasses (IIBs) of the global HR system? That HR system produced the highly controversial Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights (Norms), and the United Nations (UN) Commission on HR lacked the institutional legitimacy to lead such radical reform. With the HR system deadlocked by controversy, pressure to address the negative HR dimensions of globalisation mounted and bypasses emerged for norm experimentation outside the system: the Kimberley Process for Conflict Diamonds (Kimberley Process), the UN Global Compact (UNGC), and the Guiding Principles on Business and HR (Guiding Principles). After UN reform, and after the bypasses had thoroughly explored non-legal means of addressing HR and business, the subject matter returned to the HR system and the HR Council.