“Including Corporate Criminal Liability for International Crimes in the Business and Human Rights Treaty: Necessary but Insufficient”, 14 Oct 2015

…In this blog post, I will argue that including corporate criminal liability for international crimes in the business and human rights treaty is necessary but insufficient in itself if we want to maximise the impact of the treaty and call it a success...[T]he vast majority of human rights abuses committed by businesses do not amount to international crimes but still urgently need to be addressed…Including the notion of corporate criminal liability for international crimes…would…solve a persistent ambiguity in the field…[I]f the treaty only focuses on international crimes, it will not cover the vast majority of corporate human rights violations…On the other hand, imposing direct obligations onto corporations for all human rights challenges one of the most well-established principles of international human rights law, which is that…states only…bear responsibilities in that area…A middle-of-the-road solution would be for the business and human rights treaty to provide for international corporate criminal liability for international crimes but at the same time, for violations of lesser gravity,…impose direct obligations on states only…[I]f the process currently under way leads to a treaty that includes both elements,…I think we should call it a major success.