Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Business & Human Rights Law
- Cambridge Companions to Law
- The Cambridge Companion to Business & Human Rights Law
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Cases
- Abbreviations
- 1 Business and Human Rights
- 2 Reconciling International Human Rights with International Trade
- 3 Neoliberalism, State-Capitalism and European Ordo-Liberalism
- 4 Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility
- 5 The Role of Business in International Development and the Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals
- 6 The Business Case for Human Rights
- 7 The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Its Predecessors
- 8 The Regulatory Framework of Multinational Enterprises
- 9 The UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Their Enforcement Mechanisms
- 10 Taxation and Business
- 11 Corporate Accountability for the Natural Environment and Climate Change
- 12 Corporate Accountability for Corruption and the Business Case for Transparency
- 13 Disability, Business and Human Rights
- 14 Gender, Business and Human Rights
- 15 The Business Sector and the Rights to Work and Just and Favourable Conditions of Work
- 16 Responsible Lending
- 17 Business and Human Rights Approaches to Intellectual Property
- 18 The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration
- 19 The Use of International Arbitration Tribunals for Business and Human Rights Disputes
- 20 Innovative Contractual Remedies with Indigenous Peoples
- 21 The Role of Ethics in Corporate Human Rights Impact Assessments
- 22 Addressing Human Rights Impacts in Sustainability Reporting
- 23 Leveraging the Consumer-Led Movement to Strengthen Sustainable Business
- 24 The Structural Complexity of Multinational Corporations and the Effect on Managing Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain
- 25 Towards a UN Business and Human Rights Treaty
- Index
8 - The Regulatory Framework of Multinational Enterprises
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 September 2021
- The Cambridge Companion to Business & Human Rights Law
- Cambridge Companions to Law
- The Cambridge Companion to Business & Human Rights Law
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Cases
- Abbreviations
- 1 Business and Human Rights
- 2 Reconciling International Human Rights with International Trade
- 3 Neoliberalism, State-Capitalism and European Ordo-Liberalism
- 4 Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility
- 5 The Role of Business in International Development and the Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals
- 6 The Business Case for Human Rights
- 7 The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Its Predecessors
- 8 The Regulatory Framework of Multinational Enterprises
- 9 The UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Their Enforcement Mechanisms
- 10 Taxation and Business
- 11 Corporate Accountability for the Natural Environment and Climate Change
- 12 Corporate Accountability for Corruption and the Business Case for Transparency
- 13 Disability, Business and Human Rights
- 14 Gender, Business and Human Rights
- 15 The Business Sector and the Rights to Work and Just and Favourable Conditions of Work
- 16 Responsible Lending
- 17 Business and Human Rights Approaches to Intellectual Property
- 18 The Role of Human Rights in Investment Law and Arbitration
- 19 The Use of International Arbitration Tribunals for Business and Human Rights Disputes
- 20 Innovative Contractual Remedies with Indigenous Peoples
- 21 The Role of Ethics in Corporate Human Rights Impact Assessments
- 22 Addressing Human Rights Impacts in Sustainability Reporting
- 23 Leveraging the Consumer-Led Movement to Strengthen Sustainable Business
- 24 The Structural Complexity of Multinational Corporations and the Effect on Managing Human Rights Risks in the Supply Chain
- 25 Towards a UN Business and Human Rights Treaty
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines the main issues and achievements in the process of making MNEs human rights compliant. This involves, first, some understanding of the complexities of MNE organisation to highlight the problematic nature of attributing responsibility within what is a transnational network of interlocking entities linked either by ownership or contract or a mix of both. A distinction is made between integrated corporate group structures and looser transnational production and distribution networks between legally independent firms, often referred to as Global Value Chains (GVCs). Both have the capacity to violate human rights, but each has different control and accountability profiles.Secondly, the chapter will cover the main regulatory problems. These begin with the modalities of regulation. The UNGPs have stressed self-regulation through the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and the use of human rights due diligence (HRDD). MNEs operate as integrated enterprises, and GVCs as production and distribution networks, across national borders, while regulation remains bounded by the limits of sovereign state territory creating tension between the limits of national laws and the transnational nature of human rights claims against MNEs and GVC firms. The remainder of the chapter will cover substantive liability issues.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Business and Human Rights Law , pp. 173 - 194Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021