A Human Rights Approach to Developing Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Moral Force ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct

The criticism that voluntary codes of conduct are ineffective can be met by giving greater centrality to human rights in such codes. Provided the human rights obligations of multinational corporations are interpreted as moral obligations specifically tailored to the situation of multinational corporations, this could serve to bring powerful moral force to bear on MNCs and could provide a legitimating basis for NGO monitoring and persuasion. Approached in this way the human rights obligations of MNCs can be taken to include support for political as well as economic rights. This will go some way towards filling the regulatory gap created by the difficulty of controlling the activities of corporations operating globally. However, such a proposal will require a measure of ‘meta-regulation’ whereby the operations of MNCs are legally required to be sufficiently transparent to create the conditions for effective external moral scrutiny

NGO Strategies for Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morton Winston
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Corporate Social Accountability ◽  
Naming And Shaming ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
National Governments

This article describes and evaluates the different strategies that have been employed by international human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in attempting to influence the behavior of multinational corporations (MNCs). Within the NGO world, there is a basic divide on tactics for dealing with corporations: Engagers try to draw corporations into dialogue in order to persuade them by means of ethical and prudential arguments to adopt voluntary codes of conduct, while confronters believe that corporations will act only when their financial interests are threatened, and therefore take a more adversarial stance toward them. Confrontational NGOs tend to employ moral stigmatization, or “naming and shaming,” as their primary tactic, while NGOs that favor engagement offer dialogue and limited forms of cooperation with willing MNCs.The article explains the evolving relationship between NGOs and MNCs in relation to human rights issues and defines eight strategies along the engagement/confrontation spectrum used by NGOs in their dealings with MNCs. The potential benefits and risks of various forms of engagement between NGOs and MNCs are analyzed and it is argued that the dynamic created by NGOs pursuing these different strategies can be productive in moving some companies to embrace their social responsibilities. Yet, in order for these changes to be sustainable, national governments will need to enact enforceable international legal standards for corporate social accountability.

Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-117
Author(s):  
S. Prakash Sethi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Additional Support

This issue of Business Ethics Quarterly offers a special forum incorporating a select group of papers that were presented at the First International Conference on “Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations: Promises and Challenges,” held at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York, on May 12–15, 2004. The conference was organized by the International Center for Corporate Accountability (ICCA), Inc., and was co-sponsored by the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and the World Bank’s World Bank Institute. Additional support was provided by a number of major corporations, academic institutions, and nongovernment organizations.

scholarly journals Women workers and labour standards: the problem of ‘human rights’

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUANITA ELIAS
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Women Workers ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Perspective Drawing ◽  
Global Corporations ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
Corporate Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Development Paradigm

The International Labour Organisation’s Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of 1998 formalised an approach to global labour issues known as the Core Labour Standards (CLS). The CLS have privileged a specific set of labour standards as possessing the kinds of universalistic qualities associated with ideas of ‘human rights’; the abolition of forced and child labour, equality of opportunity, and trade union rights. But what does this ‘human rights’ approach mean from the point of view of those women workers who dominate employment in some of the most globalised, and insecure, industries in the world? In this article, I make the case for critical feminist engagement with the gender-blind, and neoliberal-compatible, approach to economic rights as set out in the CLS. Not least, this article raises wider concerns about the insufficiency of approaches to economic rights that are designed to work within the (gendered) structures of a neoliberal economic development paradigm. It is suggested that the CLS have endorsed a voluntarist approach to labour standards that views the promotion and regulation of human rights by global corporations as unproblematic. The article challenges this perspective, drawing upon the work of number of feminist scholars working in the area of women’s employment and corporate codes of conduct. These feminist writings have specifically avoided the language of human rights; thus questions need to be asked concerning the possibilities and the limitations that the CLS opens up for women’s human rights activism.

scholarly journals Transnational Corporations and Human Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Muhammed Hamid Muhammed
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
State Actors ◽  
Contemporary Practice

International trade has introduced many features in its classical or contemporary practice wherein peoples respectfully exchanged goods and ideas. Unfortunately, the legacy of large multinational corporations, concerning human rights, has generally been dismal. It is recognised that states are the primary bearers of responsibility to respect, protect, fulfill, and promote human rights and freedoms. Current developments in the field of international human rights law, however, designated transnational corporations (hereafter TNCs), organisations, and individuals in a diagonal and/or horizontal responsibility on the respect and protection of human rights. The need to make these non-state actors, especially TNCs, responsible under international law is originated from their ever-increasing influence on state actors and their impact on the individuals’ enjoyment of their social, political, and economic rights. This article deals with the multidimensional influence of TNCs on the respect, protection, and fulfilment of fundamental human rights and demonstrates the possibilities of building legal obligation over them by reviewing existing literature.

Taxation and Human Rights

2019 ◽  
pp. 259-278
Author(s):  
Reuven S. Avi-Yonah ◽  
Gianluca Mazzoni
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Data Security ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Trade Secrets ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Revenue Collection ◽  
The One

This chapter assesses the appropriate balance between strengthening tax revenue collection tools to ensure states have adequate resources to meet their human rights obligations, and protecting taxpayer rights to privacy and data security. On the one hand, the ability of rich residents of developing countries and multinational corporations operating in those countries to evade or avoid taxation is directly linked to violations of human rights in those countries, especially from the perspective of social and economic rights like health and education. Providing such countries with the means to fight back and collect adequate revenues is essential in advancing such rights. On the other hand, some of the techniques used to achieve adequate revenue collection, like automatic exchange of information (AEoI) and country-by-country reporting (CbCR), risk violating other human rights like privacy and the legitimate protection of trade secrets.

Information and AccountabilityRegulating the Corporate Social Responsibility to Respect Human Rights through Ranking and Reporting

2021 ◽  
pp. 147-200
Author(s):  
Erika George
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Informed Choice ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
New Business ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Human Rights Advocacy ◽  
Business Enterprises

This chapter argues that regulation can occur through rankings and reporting by providing information about risks to rights allowing concerned citizens to exercise informed choice. This chapter examines the emergence and evolution of selected ranking and reporting frameworks in the expanding realm of business and human rights advocacy. Specifically, it examines how indicators in the form of rankings and reports evaluating the conduct of transnational corporate actors can serve as regulatory tools with potential to bridge a global governance gap that places human rights at risk. It explains the conditions that have led to coordination and collaboration among those entities engaged in creating reporting frameworks and rankings while nevertheless relying upon the competitive impulses of the business enterprises being ranked to assert influence. It also identifies why the businesses being ranked have been slow to deploy effective counterstrategies despite efforts to contest emerging reporting requirements. It considers the interaction of selected business and human rights indicators with recent laws regulating supply chain transparency in the United States and with recent global policy initiatives calling for business enterprises to conduct human rights impact assessments. It reviews some of the methodological and moral risks raised with respect to ranking rights. In conclusion, the chapter argues that in the ecology of global governance, these new business and human rights indicators will provide rights advocates with greater power and have the potential to play an important role in solidifying emerging soft law standards and in strengthening corporate self-regulation. The strategic use of indicators in the business and human rights realm could ultimately prove to make the commitments contained in voluntary codes of conduct to respect human rights obligatory.

Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations: Coordinating Duties of Rescue and Justice

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nien-hê Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Contractual Obligations ◽  
Voluntary Adoption

This paper examines the extent to which the voluntary adoption of codes of conduct by multinational corporations (MNCs) renders MNCs accountable for the performance of actions specified in a code of conduct. In particular, the paper examines the ways in which codes of conduct coordinate the expectations of relevant parties with regard to the provision of assistance by MNCs on grounds of rescue or justice. The paper argues that this coordinative role of codes of conduct renders MNCs more accountable for the performance of actions specified in a code of conduct than they would be without a code of conduct. This interpretation of the significance of codes of conduct is contrasted with the view that codes of conduct render MNCs accountable for performing actions specified in a code of conduct by grounding contractual obligations for the performance of such actions.

Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Religious Persuasion: Effective Tools for Balancing Human Rights and Resolving Conflicts?

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-183
Author(s):  
Are L. Svendsen ◽  
Rainer O. Bless ◽  
Matthew K. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
International Law ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Viable Alternative ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
General Audience ◽  
State Regulations ◽  
Voluntary Codes Of Conduct

AbstractAttempts by people of faith to persuade others to their beliefs can provoke conflicts—even violence—in communities intent on protecting their privacy and identity. Both advocates and targets claim the protection of competing human rights, which must be balanced. Voluntary codes of conduct offer a viable alternative to government regulation. This article evaluates twenty-one codes and identifies which have greatest potential for conflict-resolution. Effective codes balance competing rights consistent with international law norms, respect multiple traditions, and address a general audience. They motivate compliance, provide a platform for dialogue, and promote the pluralism necessary to freedom of conscience. In contrast, codes focused on a single faith’s or network’s own constituencies are less likely to prevent or resolve conflicts because they tend to advocate a sectarian view and sometimes violate international law. Like aggressive state regulations, these codes can perpetuate rather than prevent conflict.

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