Business and Human Rights

Business and Human Rights Law is a rapidly growing area of law, which has dramatically transformed many parts of international law. In this new volume in the Elements series, Robert McCorquodale explores how the responsibility for human rights abuses has transitioned from a purely state obligation to also being the responsibility of businesses. Business responsibility for human rights impacts have become subject both to legislation and to court decisions whenever their activities lead to human rights abuses anywhere in the world.

This book shows the importance of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in these developments, and examines their influence on international, regional, and national law. It also analyses the changes on state obligations to protect human rights, on the corporate responsibility for human rights abuses, and on effective access to remedies for those adversely affected by business activities. Each of these shifts has consequences on core tenets of international law, such as sovereignty and jurisdiction, and has implications for crafting new international law in areas such as climate change and technology.

Robert McCorquodale brings his decades of experience in scholarship and legal practice in business and human rights law, as well as his extensive engagement with businesses, governments, civil society, and international organisations, to bear on his understanding and analysis of this increasingly important field.

Robert McCorquodale, Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights,

Robert McCorquodale is a member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, a five-member group of independent experts. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the University of Nottingham, UK, and a barrister and mediator at Brick Court Chambers, London.
Robert has 30 years of experience working in business and human rights, which began before it became a field of law. He has published scholarship widely in this area, including empirical research, and has advised business of all sizes and assisted governments around the world. He has been involved with civil society, industry sectors and other organisations in drafting legal changes and in litigation. His work has included scholarship, capacity building, legislative proposals, and training. He has appeared as an advocate before the International Court of Justice and the United Kingdom Supreme Court, and as a legal expert before United Nations bodies.