Part III The Social Dimension, 13 Human Rights and Multinational Enterprises

This chapter examines the role played by human rights standards in the regulation of MNE activities. To date human rights norms have been used by corporate actors to protect their vital interests against what they may view as acts of excessive state regulation. This has led to the gradual development of a protective law of human rights for corporations. This issue will be considered in the first section. However, the principal task of this chapter is to consider whether, and how far, MNEs should be required to observe fundamental human rights standards and,...