Teaching the Relationship Between Business and Human Rights

IALS 2013 Annual Meeting Papers Teaching the Relationship between Business and Human Rights Abstracts Hlako Choma – University of Venda, South Africa Somu C S – Christ University School of Law, India Carmen Domínguez – Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile Donald Martin Ferencz – Middlesex University School of Law, United Kingdom Helmut Grothe - Free University of Berlin, Germany Shashikala Gurpur and Bindu Ronald – Symbiosis Law School, India Fatima Mandu – University of Zambia, Zambia Nitika Nagar – Symbiosis Law School, India Ashok Patil – National Law School of India University, India Poonam Puri – Osgoode Hall Law School York University, Canada Sonia Rolland – Northeastern University School of Law, United States Moussa Samb – Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal Valentina Smorgunova – Herzen State Pedagogical University, Russia Jiri Valdhans & Nadezda Rozehnalova - Masaryk University Faculty of Law, Czech Republic Hlako Choma – University of Venda, South Africa Growing attention to the protection and enforcement of socio-economic right has produced much excellent work in South African jurisprudence. There remain, however, important areas for further exploration in this research. The research will argue that recent literature has focused on questions of inclusion or entrenchment of socio-economic rights in the constitutions. The research further argues that there is room for more sustained and critical attention to the question of democracy. While more attention to democracy would certainly include descriptive understandings of trends in decision-making practices, what is even more urgent is a prescriptive exploration of the role democracy may play in shaping a more progressive future for South Africans against poverty. This paper explores the intersection of economic globalisation and the enforcement of socio-economic rights. The focus of this exploration is the right to social security. While a right to social security can be constructed at the international level, the right disappears in the face of neoliberal development measures such as those that are instituted by democratic governments in developing nations faced with limited resources. Somu C S – Christ University School of Law Corporate Social Responsibility is no longer regarded as voluntary and philanthropic activity of the companies. Governments have been making legislations to define the role of companies in making their CSR policies so as to promote and protect human rights. The proposed Companies Bill 2012 of India imposes an obligation on companies to undertake socially responsible activities for promoting human rights. This paper explores the operation of the law for the purpose of bringing Corporate Social Responsibility into its ambit and expanding the legal accountabilities of the companies towards society. Keywords: Business, CSR, Human Rights, Law 1 Carmen Domínguez – Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile Civil law has been called, rightly or wrongly, the law of "the rich", expression that refers to its traditional inclination to goods, obligations and contracts and the inheritance, all of them patrimonial subjects. In addition to that, the books that deal with the general obligations and contracts, in almost all nineteenth-codes like the Chilean one - are virtually books of creditors, who are considered above debtors. Civil law appears to devote concern to everything related to the estate of the person more than the person in itself, an idea that seems supported by the fact that neither the Napoleonic Code of 1804 nor those that followed it, contain a systematic regulation of the person and its inherent rights. For others, the omission of such regulation may be due to the fact that it was not necessary, since by the time of enactment of the French Civil Code, the declaration of rights of 1789 already existed. Proof of this is that its contents came to lead most of the constitutions of the most diverse countries which came later. Donald Martin Ferencz – Middlesex University School of Law, United Kingdom At the outset, and as a matter of full and fair disclosure, I should confess that I am not an academic in the traditional sense, but I have a keen interest in criminalization of the illegal use of armed force - both as what we would, in today’s world, call the crime of aggression, and also as a crime against humanity. Helmut Grothe - Free University of Berlin, Germany When teaching business law at university level, one is tempted to leave human rights issues to the professors for public law. The complexity and globality of today’s business law are certainly sufficient to fill the curriculum without taking recourse to human rights. Nonetheless, every once in a while, there is time to introduce aspects of human rights law into a business law lecture. Shashikala Gurpur and Bindu Ronald – Symbiosis Law School, India Drawing on the existing curriculum in various law schools in India, the paper aims to posit the current scenario in the critical backdrop of Ruggie report and emerging stricter norms of corporate governance. It also argues for making human rights a mandatory value and parameter across disciplines within regulatory framework like how environmental education is. Fatima Mandu – University of Zambia, Zambia The role of law schools in providing training based solutions in Human Rights and Business in Zambia. There is clear need to promote business and human rights courses in Zambia. Labour unrests, management lock outs, strikes and general discourse in the world of work are common occurrences in the business sector. Linked with this are the problems on the other extreme involving directors, shareholders and managers and their fraudulent corrupt and dishonest means of maximizing profits on their investment. This paper will investigate how training in issues of human rights in the context of business will help resolve the problems outlined above. Currently there are no courses being offered either as standalone or part of the general human rights training. There is little or no research published in this area and therefore no jurisprudence for practicing Advocates to argue complex cases based on human rights violations. The objective of the training programs will not only be academic and theoretical but a practical approach imparting skills to resolve the problems in the businesses. The aim of this paper is to investigate suitable training options including in- house workshops for business professionals that can promote compliance with human rights in the world of business in Zambia. 2 Nitika Nagar – Symbiosis Law School, India Over the Years, the Equation between Business and Human Rights has drastically changed. With the advent of Globalisation, business has served as a vehicle for economic, social and cultural amelioration. One can see a dramatic change in the economic scenario of developing countries like India, where the diffusion of technology, scientific culture and management skills has led to job creations and rapid economic development. The flow of Foreign Direct Investment has brought a wave of transformation, which includes not only an increase in the number of jobs, but a remarkable improvement in the overall standard of living of the people. Business has thus enriched human lives, by giving every individual various rights, ranging from the right to adequate quality food to the right to freedom of expression and access to information. However, Business has certain negative implications as well that need to be rectified. Business poses a great threat to the enjoyment to human rights through its own conduct or invasion of rights by the host government. Moreover, private business firms have violated social, economic and cultural rights on a large scale and have remained unaccountable for their acts by exploiting the loopholes in the regulatory mechanisms. It has thus become a Necessity for Law and Business Schools to learn about the Current existing Relationship between Business and Human Rights. This article explores the Ethical and Legal perspectives of the above mentioned relationship and the ways in which Law Schools and Business schools can educate students on the hazardous implications that Business has had over Human Rights in recent times. Ashok Patil – National Law School of India University, India Consumer rights are rights of the individual and not rights of a group. Consumers are not a separate group of people, since every person is a consumer from time to time. Whether it be the person who buys the goods or the seller of those goods who must have bought those goods who he is selling from some other person. The acknowledgement that human rights protect the individual’s prosperity, honor, and development makes consumer rights suitable to be declared as human rights. This establishes the fact that consumer rights are rights of an individual and therefore must be considered in the list of human rights. The main aim of various human rights available is to protect the right of human dignity of an individual. This main aim of protecting the human dignity has been recognized in various United Nations documents like UDHR, ICESCR and UNGCR etc. In a consumer society, protection of the individual consumer is part of maintaining human dignity. If not given the right to fair trade, the right to a fair contract, and the right of access to courts, a person’s dignity is disregarded. Therefore it is amply clear that the main aim of both human rights and consumer rights is to protect the dignity of an individual, which makes the case for consumer rights to be included in human rights even stronger. Poonam Puri – Osgoode Hall Law School York University, Canada There are a number of different ways in which human rights can be discussed and advanced through the teaching of business law courses in law schools. There are a multitude of stakeholders who are impacted by the decisions made by corporate actors. Though most corporate law statutes around the world do not speak to human rights directly, they do impose a duty on directors to act in the best interests of the organization, including the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders who are affected by the corporation's actions.

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