Commercial Law and Human Rights

Following Sir Anthony Mason's overview,3 the collection opens with
a series of essays that look at various aspects of corporate law. In the first essay, David Kinley traces initiatives, from the mid-1970s onwards, to
subject local and transnational corporate behaviour to human rights
standards.4 These initiatives include efforts by supra-national bodies, such
as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, and the
European Union, to include "social clauses" in trade and aid agreements
and initiatives at the domestic level such as ethical investment, fair trading
initiatives, and various forms of codes of conduct. Kinley reviews the state's
indirect and direct obligations to ensure that private actors respect the
human rights protections in many international instruments and developing
jurisprudence in this area. Finally, Kinley examines the case law with
respect to the application of extra-territorial laws to the behaviour of
domestic corporations outside of the country