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Article

1 May 2008

Author:
John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on business & human rights, in Ethical Corporation

[PDF] Treaty road not travelled

I have three main reservations about recommending to states that they launch a treaty process [on business & human rights] at this time. First, treaty-making can be painfully slow, while the challenges of business and human rights are immediate and urgent. Second, and worse, a treaty-making process now risks undermining effective shorter-term measures to raise business standards on human rights. And third, even if treaty obligations were imposed on companies, serious questions remain about how they would be enforced...