Category: AGLC-4

Human Rights and the Global Economy

October 23, 2020 Leave a comment AGLC-4, Law

Adopting a human rights perspective consider the following quote from renowned philosopher and
polymath, Bertrand Russell:
If all men [sic] were well off, if poverty and disease were reduced to their lowest possible point, there would still remain much to be done to produce a valuable society, and even in the existing world, the goods of the mind are at least as important as the goods of the body.
Do you agree? Explain and support your answer using examples and evidence drawn from across the topics addressed throughout the unit.
NB. The central purpose of this essay assignment is to test your understanding of both the breadth and depth of interactions between human rights and the global economy, so choose supporting examples and evidence accordingly. Be sure also to explain your reasoning behind the choices you make. Balancing depth and breadth in this way, and doing so within a set word limit, are challenges you need carefully to consider when planning your essay

Please use at least 30 reference from the following

TOPICS COVERED
Topic 1 Introduction to Issues
In the opening session we construct the stage upon which the play is set. We identify the
principal actors and some interesting minor parts and we articulate the main plots and subplots. We establish the main areas of focus for human rights concerns namely, global finance,
commerce, trade and aid and we outline how each relates to the other. It is through these
that we are able here (and later under the topics to follow) to view the multifaceted phenomenon
of globalization, which comprises both the expansion of cross-border economic relations and
the universalisation of the idea of human rights.
Essential Reading:
Civilising Globalisation, Chapter 1
Necessary Evil, Introduction (pp.1-10)
Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights (3rd ed., 2013), chapter 2 (pp. 24-39).
Leif Wenar, Responsibility and Severe Poverty in Thomas Pogge (ed) Freedom from
Poverty as a Human Right (2007), chapter 10 (pp.255-74).
Paul Romer, The Dismal Kingdom: Do Economists have too much Power?, Review Essay,
Foreign Affairs (March/April 2020), pp. 150-7.
Max Walden, Half a billion people could be pushed into poverty by coronavirus economic
fallout, study finds, ABC News (9 April 2020)
Alex Woodward, Facebook removes harmful video from Trump page claiming children are
almost immune as he echoes claim during press conference, The Independent, 6 August
2020.
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John Cassidy, Pikettys Inequality Story in Six Charts, New Yorker (26 March 2014).
Nordic Trust Fund/World Bank, Human Rights and Economics: Tensions and Positive
Relationships (2012), Read extracts: Exec. Summary; Part 1 (pp.3-13).
CESCR General Comment #3: The Nature of States Parties Obligations (14 December 1990)
OECD Watch, Civil society watchdog challenges Australian governments handling of
complaint about human rights abuses at Manus Island asylum centre (24 Nov 2017) (
[Illustrating the importance of the public/private nexus]
The obligations of States parties regarding the corporate sector and economic, social and
cultural rights, Statement by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (12
July 2011)
Further Reading:
UNDP, Human Development Report 2013. The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a
Diverse World (Summary; pp.1-28).
Michael Windfuhr, Chapter 6: The World Food Crisis and the Right to Adequate Food, in Mark
Gibney and Sigrun Skogly (eds), Universal Human Rights and Extraterritorial Obligations
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010)
UN General Assembly Resolution 53/144, Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of
Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted 9 December 1998, UN
Doc.A/RES/53/144
Martha Davis, Occupy Wall Street and International Human Rights, 39 FORDHAM URB. L.J.
931 (2012)
Useful Websites:
Human Rights & the Global Economy eJournal
Business and Human Rights
Union of International Associations
Topic 2 – Commerce and Human Rights
The focus of this topic will be on the principal agents of global commercial enterprise namely,
transnational corporations (TNCs). In particular we analyse the debate surrounding whether
and to what extent human rights obligations ought/can/are placed on TNCs, and we consider
what means (legal and otherwise) are being pursued to articulate and enforce those obligations
at both domestic and international levels. Important cases from the relatively small but
significant body of jurisprudence in the area will be discussed in some depth. We will also
examine the UNs Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2013) as well as the
ongoing efforts of the UNs Working Group on Business and Human Rights to draft a binding
treaty on business and human rights.
Essential reading:
Civilising Globalisation, Chapter 4
Problems and possibilities
Chip Pitts, Civil Society and the Private Sector (a short essay on a BHR treaty) (2017).
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Hurst Hannum, Rescuing Human Rights (2019), Chapter 3: The importance of governments,
for better or worse (pp.26-43) eReserve.
Ana ertanec The Connection between Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate
Respect for Human Rights 10(2) (2019) DANUBE: Law, Economics and Social Issues
Review (online).
Case Study Shell in Nigeria:
– Poison Fire documentary (28 minutes) – to be shown in class.
– Wiwa v Shell settlement
– John Vidal, Shell accepts liability for two oil spills in Nigeria, The Guardian, 3
Aug 2011.
NB for other examples and discussions of various types of corporate abuses of human
rights, see: http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Issues/Abuses.
Legal/litigation responses:
Domestic laws
Justine Nolan & Martine Boersma, Addressing Modern Slavery (2019), Chapter 4, pp.113-59
Vigilanz Kulturen, The French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law: An Example of Bottom-Up
Vigilance? (18 June 2020)
Claire OBrien, The Home State Duty To Regulate TNCs Abroad (2016), Danish Institute of
Human Rights.
Cees van Dam, Tort Law and Human Rights: Brothers in Arms on the Role of Tort Law in the
Area of Business and Human Rights. 2 (2011) Journal of European Tort Law (2011), 221-54.
Domestic cases ATS (USA):
1. UNOCAL
Doe v Unocal Corp 395 F.3d 932 (9th Cir. 2002) extracts pp. 936 944
Rachel Chambers, The Unocal Settlement – Implications for the Developing Corporate
Complicity in Human Rights, (2005) 13(1) Human Rights Brief 14
2. Kiobel
Kiobel v Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum I & II (SCOTUS). Summary of case(s) in Legal
Information Institute Supreme Court Bulletin
Ralph Steinhardt, The ATS after Kiobel (AJIL blogpost)
3. Drummond
Estate of Rodriquez v. Drummond Co., 256 F. Supp. 2d 1250 (N.D. Ala. 2003) NB please
consult the following pages of the judgment:1250, 1253-4, 1258-65 & 1268. eReserve
Media coverage of Drummond case:
Kyle Whitmire, Suit in U.S. Over Murders in Colombia, New York Times, 13 July
2007,
Kyle Whitmire, Alabama Company Is Exonerated in Murders at Colombian Mine,
New York Times, 27 July 2007
And see subsequent (Post-Kiobel) case:
Giraldo v Drummond (2013) US District Court Alabama (ND)
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Anna Grear and Weston Burns, “The Betrayal of Human Rights and the Urgency of Universal
Corporate Accountability: Reflections on a Post-Kiobel Lawscape,” (2015) 15(1) Human
Rights Law Review, 21-44
4. Kasky (non-ATS)
Marc Kasky v Nike, Inc., et al. 27 Cal.4th 939, (Supreme Court of California, 2 May 2002).
W. Baue, The Implications of the Nike and Kasky Settlement on CSR Reporting in Social
Funds, 18 September 2003.
International law
Eric de Brabandere, Human Rights and Transnational Corporations: The Limits of Direct
Corporate Responsibility, (2010) 4(1) Human Rights and International Legal Discourse. 66-
88
CESCR, General Comment No. 24 on State Obligations under the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Context of Business Activities (23 June 2017).
UN Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other
business enterprises with respect to human rights, Revised draft legally binding instrument on
business activities and human rights (July 2019)
Corporate responses
Menno Kamminga, Company Responses to Human Rights Reports: An Empirical Analysis
(2015)
Unilevers Human Rights Progress Report (2017), pp.1-15 (Our Approach)
Do corporations have human rights?
International organisations responses
Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on the issue of human
rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, John Ruggie, Protect,
Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights, (7 April 2008).
UN SRSG Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the UN Protect, Respect and
Remedy” Framework (June 2011).
UN OHCHR, Ensuring that business respects human rights during the Covid-19 crisis and
beyond, Statement by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (undated)
Further reading (for whole topic):
Richard Meeran, Tort Litigation Against Multinational Corporations for Violation of Human
Rights: An Overview of the Position Outside the United States (2011) 3 City University of
Hong Kong Law Review, pp 1-38.
Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights: Policy Reports (x4, issued between 2003-
2009). These comprise practical guidance to corporations on the so-called business case for
human rights. All are available at www.blihr.org.
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Jonathan I. Charney, Transnational Corporations and Developing Public International Law,
1983 Duke Law Journal 748-788 (1983). [This is one of the earliest contributions on the
matter of whether and how to involve TNCs in negotiations over soft and hard international
laws.]
John Knox, Horizontal Human Rights, 102 (2008) American Journal of International Law 1-
49
Radu Mares, Business and Human Rights After Ruggie: Foundations, the Art of
Simplification and the Imperative of Cumulative Progress, chapter 1 in Radu Mares (ed) The
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Brill; 2012)
Justine Nolan, The corporate responsibility to respect human rights: soft law or not law? In
Bilchitz & Deva (eds) Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate
Responsibility to Respect? (2013)
EarthRights International, Doe v. Unocal Case History (A brief history of the litigation).
Maastricht Principles on Extra-territorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (2011).
David Kinley & Rachel Chambers, The UN Human Rights Norms for Corporations: The
Private Implications of Public International Law (2006) 6(3) Human Rights Law Review 447.
Enough, Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502 (August
2015).
Useful Websites
Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and
other business enterprises
Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR)
Fair Labor Association
Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG)
International Commission of Jurists Expert Legal Panel on Corporate Complicity in
International Crimes
Topic 3 Global Finance and Human Rights (including the GFC as a case-study)
Finance is the lifeblood of all economic activities and yet financial actors are often somewhat
removed from direct relations with human rights holders. This relational distance in practice
has led to a yawning gap in understanding of how human rights and finance intersect and,
just as crucially, has allowed the languages of both disciplines to grow further apart.
Following the GFC of 2007/8, this dissonance has obtained even greater significance. In this
section we consider the dimensions of the gap in understanding, its consequences for human
rights and what might be done about it.
Essential reading:
Necessary Evil, chapter 1
Snapshots of the overlap of HRs & finance:
– You reap what you sow – The Economist (July 2017) | BNP Paribas and
Rwandas genocide: A long reckoning
– Unintended consequences – The Economist (July 2017)| Financial derisking: The
great unbanking
– Introduction to the Banking and Finance Oath (7 min video)
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Mary Dowell-Jones, Financial Institutions and Human Rights , (2013) 3 Human Rights Law
Review, NB focus on pp.423-57.
Danny Bradlow, Governments should always assess the impact of economic reforms
on citizens, The Conversation (12 March 2020), which includes discussion of the United
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2019)
Public debt, austerity measures and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, Statement by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (22
July 2016)
Ross Buckley, 0.05% as an Instrument of Global Justice and Market Efficiency (2013) Asian
Journal of International Law 153-67.
Tax Justice Network (Germany Branch) Tax and Human Rights. Policy Brief #8 (Feb 2013).
Susan Karamanian, Human Rights Dimensions of Investment Law in Erika DeWit & Jure
Vidmar (eds.), Hierarchy in International Law: The Place of Human Rights (Oxford University
Press 2012); especially 239-50 and 268-71.
Goldman Sachs, Human Rights Statement,
UN OHCHR, Human rights impact must be addressed in vulture fund litigation UN experts,
Press Release (December 2014).
ICMA, The Social bond Principles 2017
Larry Finks letter to CEOs 2018
Further Reading:
Center of Concern (2011) A Bottom-Up Approach to Righting Financial Regulation: Why is a
Human Rights Approach Needed in Financial Regulation?, Washington D.C.: Center of
Concern
How Much Do Banks Owe Us?, TEDx video (10 mins)
Mary Dowell-Jones & David Kinley, The Monster under the Bed: Financial Services and the
Ruggie Framework, in Radu Mares (ed) The UN Guiding Principles on Corporations and
Human Rights: Foundations and Implementation (2012), 193-216.
Jubilee Australia, Preying on the Poor. Briefing Paper: Vulture Funds (June 2011),
GFC Case Study
The Global Financial Crisis in 2007-8 (GFC) had a derivative effect on human rights standards,
especially those of the poor. The World Bank estimated that some additional 90 million people
slipped beneath the $1.25 per day level of abject poverty in the years immediately following the
crisis. The World Bank estimated that some additional 90 million people slipped beneath the
$1.25 per day level of abject poverty in the years following 2008. Yet the matter of human rights
remained a largely invisible factor in the high-level strategic negotiations in international forums
that followed over how to respond both to the crisis and to global economic downturn it
triggered.
ESCR-Net Statement on the Financial Crisis and Global Economic Recession: Towards a
Human Rights Response (May 2009)
Aoife Nolan, Not Fit for Purpose? Human Rights in Times of Financial and Economic Crisis
(2015) (4) EHRLR, 360-371
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Raquel Rolnik & Lidia Rabinovich, Late-Neoliberalism: The Financialisation of
Homeownership and the Housing Rights of the Poor in Aoife Nolan (ed) Economic and
Social Rights After the Global Financial Crisis (2014), pp.57-89 eReserve
Stephen Long, The GFC: A Year On, 14 September, 2009 , ABC Radio 702. Listen to MP3 of
this story (5 minutes)
Video clip (to be shown in class) IBA, Poverty, Justice and the Rule of Law (post-GFC) (15
mins)
Further Reading (on GFC):
World Bank, Global Financial Crisis: Responding Today, Securing Tomorrow, Background
Paper prepared for the G20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy
(Washington, D.C., 15 November 2008)
Halifax Initiative Coalition (ed), Fifteen Years is Enough (2010).
Report of the Commission of Experts of the President of the United Nations General
Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, 21 May 2009.
Topic 4 Development and Human Rights
Is there a right to development and if so who/what holds the right and who/what bears the
responsibility? What roles can and do the discourse and mechanics of international human
rights law play in the field of development? What is the rights way to development? Is human
rights conditionality a Trojan Horse of western cultural imperialism? And, what are, or should
be, the human rights responsibilities of national aid agencies, the World Bank (and the regional
aid banks), the IMF and UN satellite organizations such as UNDP?
Essential reading:
Civilising Globalisation, Chapter 3
Necessary Evil, pp.133-47
Kristoffer Marslev & Hans-Otto Sano, The Economy of Human Rights Exploring Potential
Linkages Between Human Rights and Economic Development (2016), Danish Institute of
Human Rights.
Draft Convention on the Right to Development, UN Human Rights Council, Working Group on
the Right to Development (Jan 2020).
Theory:
Rhoda Howard, The Full Belly Thesis: Should Economic Rights take Priority over Civil and
Political Rights? (1983) 5 Human Rights Quarterly 467-90
Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom (1999), pp.13-34
UNDP, Human Development Report 2000, Chapter 1, Human Rights and Human
Development.
On the links between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and human rights, see
OHCHR
Eric Posner, Should human rights play a role in development?, World Bank Economic
Review (2017), S16-33.
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David Kinley, Bendable Rules: The Development Implications of Human Rights Pluralism, in
Tamanaha, Sage & Woolcock (eds) Legal Pluralism and Development: Scholars and
Practitioners in Dialogue (2012, CUP).
Practice:
Peter Uvin, Human Rights and Development (Kumarian Press, 2004) chapters 3 and 4.
On Aids leaky bucket, see Misplaced charity, The Economist, (11 June 2016),
Dominic Renfrey, World Bank, When Will It Be Human Rights First, Articles of Agreement
Second? Righting Finance Blog (19 Feb 2013).
Galit Sarfaty, Values in Translation: Human Rights and the Culture of the World Bank
(Stanford University Press, 2012), Chap 1: Behind the Curve: Institutional Resistance to
Human Rights, 23-50
Brookings Blog: Mobile Money : A Technological Game Changer for Tackling Global
Poverty? 3 minute video
Jaclyn Berfond et al, Capacity Building for Government-to-Person Payments: A Path to
Womens Empowerment, Womens World Banking (2019)
UN Guiding Principles on extreme poverty and human rights, adopted by UN Human Rights
Council, 27 September 2012:
Further reading:
Philip Alston, Ships Passing in the Night: The Current State of Human Rights and
Development Debate as Seen through the Lens of the MDGs (2005) 27(3) Human Rights
Quarterly 755 (extracts p.755770; 8289).
New Economics Foundation, How Poor is Poor?: Towards a Rights Based Poverty Line,
(July, 2010).
On transparency and private sector enterprise in developing countries (especially regarding
extractive industries, see:
– The Extractive Industries Initiative (EITI) – Publish What You Pay (PWYP)
World Bank website: for Bank structure and basic facts
Tilburg Guiding Principles on World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Human Rights
The Equator Principles – and for an assessment of the impact of the EPs see: BankTrack,
The Outside Job 23 October 2011
Useful Websites
Righting Finance
BankTrack
Bretton Woods Project
World Bank
Topic 5 – Trade and Human Rights
Very often it is assumed or claimed that trade and human rights are separate enterprises, that
their respective methods and goals are distinct and distant. But is this stance sustainable? To
what extent does international trade already embrace human rights principles? And can the
right to trade really be a human right? What are the reasons for and against linking the two
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areas and what role can or should trade organs play in human rights protection? This topic
looks not only looks at the GATT regime, but also that relating to intellectual property (TRIPS)
and special programs that are aimed at aiding developing countries (eg GSP). A number of
case studies from these regimes are examined in detail.
Essential Reading:
Civilising Globalisation, Chapter 2
The WTO today WTO report draws attention to impact of COVID-19 trade disruptions on
women (5 August 2020)
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1947), especially Articles I, XVIII, XIX, XX & XXI
Rachel Harris and Gillian Moon, GATT Article XX and Human Rights: What do we Know from
the First 20 years? (2015) 16 Melbourne Journal of International Law, NB read only pp.431-
58 & 474-82.
Sarah Joseph, Blame it on the WTO: A Human Rights Critique (OUP, 2011), Chapter 2: The
Relationship between the WTO and International Human Rights Law
Global Trade after the Failure of the Doha Round, New York Times (1 Jan, 2016).
Brent Radcliffe, How Economic Sanctions Work (2016); Investopedia
Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (2001).
Rudolph Peritz, Trips and Developing Countries: Introduction, in Ghidini et al (eds) Trips
and Developing Countries (2014), 1-10.
Relevant WTO jurisprudence:
See a 1995-2018 compendium of one-page WTO case summaries .This compendium
provides very brief summaries of a number of leading cases decided under the WTOs
Dispute Settlement Mechanisms Panels and Appellate Bodies. Some of these disputes are
relevant to human rights concerns, especially the following:
– US Gasoline DS2 (1996),
– EC Hormones DS26 (1998).
– US Shrimp DS58 (1998), p.27; and see subsequently in this case US Shrimp
DS58 (2001),
– EC Asbestos DS135 (2001),
– Brazil Retreaded Tyres DS332 (2006),
On EC v US/Canada & Argentina WTO GMO case (and its inconclusive findings), see here
(ASIL)
On Australias WTO cigarette plain packaging litigation DS467 (re: alleged breaches of both
TRIPS and TBT Agreements):
– Summaries of final decision in June 2018 available here (WTO) and here (ABC
News). – Full Panels Reports (all 888 pages of them!) available here [For reference only]
On the Trans-Pacific Partnership:
– John Sifton, Sure, TPP Is Win-Win Unless You Care About Human Rights The
Diplomat (12 May 2015).
– Tridivesh Singh Maini, The TPP in the post-COVID World Modern Diplomacy (18
May 2020)
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Further Reading:
The Aid for Trade Initiative see (former WTO DG) Pascal Lamy podcast
James Harrison, The Human Rights Impact of the World Trade Organisation (Hart, 2007),
chapter 10 . E-U. Petersmann, Human Rights and International Trade Law: Defining and Connecting the
Two Fields in Cottier et al, Human Rights and International Trade (2005), pp. 29 68.
Lakshmi Puri, Towards a New Trade Marshall Plan for Least Developed
Countries(UNCTAD, 2005).
Useful Websites
World Trade Organization; alsobrowse the WTOs information and news videos
United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, The Least Developed
Countries Report 2004: Linking International Trade with Poverty Reduction
And for a repository of further links to matters on trade and human rights, see here.
Topic 6 Good Governance and the Rule of Law
This topic has both retrospective and prospective dimensions to it. Its focus is on the role
played, by the notions of good governance and the rule of law in the creation and maintenance
of social, political and economic stability. We also investigate associated links between levels
of corruption and respect for human rights. Consideration is given to the view that together the
notions of good governance and the rule of law act as lynchpins between human rights and the
global economy. Where they flourish then there are grounds for optimism, but where they are
deficient or absent both the economy and human rights are certain to suffer. Specific
institutional and country case studies will be discussed in this session.
Essential Reading:
Necessary Evil, Chapter 6.
UNESCAP, What is Good Governance?
For a brief overview of relevant UN initiatives: The Rule of Law and Human Rights.
UN Commission on Human Rights, The Role of Good Governance in the Promotion of
Human Rights, Resolution 2003/65 (24 April 2003).
Meetika Srivastava, Good Governance – Concept, Meaning and Features: A Detailed Study
(2010)
Anne Peters, Corruption as a violation of international human rights 29(4) (2019) European
Journal of International Law 1251; NB. pp.1251-67 only.
Jos-Miguel Bello y Villarino, Unsustainable Finance: targeting corruption linked to
investments through international agreements (unpublished conference paper, 2020) –
eReserve
Timothy Garton-Ash, Come on, India! Show us that freedom can outdo tyranny: How can
such poverty, corruption and inequality endure in the world’s largest, most diverse
democracy? Guardian, 13 Jan 2013.
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China Power, How does corruption hinder Chinas development? (2020)
Unsworth, S, Whats Politics Got to do with It? Why donors find it so hard to come to terms
with politics, and why this matters, (2009) 21(6) Journal of International Development, pp.
883-894.
Daniel Kaufmann, Human Rights and Governance: The Empirical Challenge in Philip Alston
& Mary Robinson (eds) Human Rights and Development: Towards Mutual Reinforcement
(2005), pp. 352-402.
Further Reading:
Olivier de Schutter TNCs as Instruments of Human Development in Alston & Robinson (eds)
Human Rights and Development (OUP, 2005), pp.403-445.
Armytage, L 2014, Reforming Justice: a journey to fairness in Asia, Cambridge University
Press; Chapter 2. .
David Kinley, Human Rights, Globalization and the Rule of Law: Friends, Foe or Family?
(2002-03) 7 University of California, Los Angeles, Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs
239
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Making the Law Work for Everyone:
Volume 1, (UNDP & Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor: New York, 2008).
Daniel Brinks and Varun Gauri, The Laws Majestic Equality? The Distributive Impact of
Litigating Social and Economic Rights, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 5999
(2012).
Useful Websites
UNDP Human Development Report 2002: Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented
World
Asian Development Bank Law & Policy Reform
International Commission of Jurists
World Bank Law & Justice Institutions
Topic 7 – Prospects and Possibilities
Upon whom or what do responsibilities lie for making the global economy more human rightsfriendly? What are the complicating circumstances and factors in making this happen? How
much can and should we rely on law to do the job, and how much on political or commercial
imperatives? On which point we also critique economist Joan Robinsons eye-popping remark
said, the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being
exploited at all. And, finally, we consider whether we should be focusing more on some rights
(eg economic and social) than others (eg civil and political). These are all questions that we
shall raise and seek boldly to address as we bring the course to a close.
Essential Reading:
Civilising Globalisation, Chapter 5
Necessary Evil, Chapter 7
Stephen Hopgood, What is the greatest challenge to the future of human rights? We the
people are, The Conversation (23 October 2018).
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Maria Clara Galvis, The Obligations to States to Prevent International Law Violations by Private
Actors, 15 (4) (2011) Aportes DPLF, pp.12-14.
Amnesty International & ICAR, Corporate Crimes Principles (2016).
Nishant Bagadia, Can Corporations Inspire Social Good? Stanford Social Innovation Review
(16 March 2018)
UN Women, Why Gender Equality Matters across of SDGs (2018), NB. read pp.1-8, but then
scan or dip into the commentaries on the 17 SDGs that follow.
Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, Report to the Human Rights Council
(main focus: economic inequality, financial crises and human rights) A/HRC/31/60 (12 Jan
2016) – download from here.
EIU, From Principles to Practice : A Global Survey of 900 CEOs
Ethical Corporation, Human Rights is top supply chain issue for companies (2016)
Phllip Inman, Billionaires’ fortunes hinder fight against poverty, says Oxfam, The Guardian,
19 January 2013
J Pfeffer Merrill, Global philanthropy: Smallest donors have biggest impact Philanthropy
Daily (11 April 2012) at:
Amatya Sen Human Rights and the Limits of Law (2006) 27 Cardozo Law Review 2913
Further Readings
Corporate Human Rights Benchmark
Maastricht Principles on Extra-territorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (2011).
CCCMC & OECD, The Chinese Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Mineral Supply
Chains (2016) see here for text.
International Bar Association, Tax Abuses, Poverty and Human Rights (2013).
Mary Robinson, Advancing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The Way Forward, (2004)
26(4) Human Rights Quarterly 866 at
Useful Websites
ESCR-NET International Network for Economic Social and Cultural Rights:
http://www.escr-net.org/