Librería Portfolio

A consensus has emerged that corporations have societal and environmental responsibilities when operating transnationally. However, how exactly corporations can be held legally accountable for their transgressions, if at all, is less clear.


This volume inquires how regulatory tools stemming from international law, public law, and private law may or may not be used for transnational corporate accountability purposes. Attention is devoted to applicable standards of liability, institutional and jurisdictional issues, and practical challenges, with a focus on ways to improve the existing legal status quo. In addition, there is consideration of the extent to which non-legal regulatory instruments may complement or provide more viable alternatives to these legal mechanisms. The book combines legaldoctrinal approaches with comparative, interdisciplinary, and policy insights with the dual aim of furthering the legal scholarly debate on these issues and enabling higher quality decision-making by policymakers seeking to implement regulatory measures that enhance corporate accountability in this context. Through its study of contemporary developments in legislation and case law, it provides a timely and important contribution to the scholarly and sociopolitical debate in the fastevolving field of international corporate social responsibility and accountability.

Table of Contents

Part 1 General perspectives;

Chapter 1 Introduction;
Ivo Giesen, Liesbeth Enneking, François Kristen, Lucas Roorda, Cedric Ryngaert, Anne-Jetske Schaap;

Chapter 2 Whose Responsibilities? The Responsibility of the 'Business Enterprise' to Respect Human Rights;
Björn Fasterling;

Chapter 3 National Contact Points under OECD's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: Institutional Diversity Affecting Assessments of the Delivery of Access to Remedy;
Karin Buhmann;

Chapter 4 Unpacking Accountability in Business and Human Rights: The Multinational Enterprise, the State, and the International Community;
Larry Backer;

Part 2 Accountability through international law mechanisms;

Chapter 5 The Effectiveness of International Arbitration to Provide Remedy for Business-Related Human Rights Abuses;
Katerina Yiannibas;

Chapter 6 Justice without Borders: Models of Cross-Border Legal Cooperation and What They can Teach us;
Jennifer Zerk;

Chapter 7 Ignorantia facti excusat? - The Viability of Due Diligence as a Model to Establish International Criminal Accountability for Corporate Actors Purchasing Natural Resources from Conflict Zones;
Daniëlla Dam-de Jong;

Part 3 Accountability through domestic public law mechanisms;

Chapter 8 From 'Too Big to be Governed' to 'Not Too Big to be Responsible'?;
François Kristen & Jessy Emaus;

Chapter 9 Holding Businessmen Criminally Liable for International Crimes: Lessons from the Netherlands on How to Address Remote Involvement;
Marjolein Cupido, Mark Hornman & Wim Huisman;

Chapter 10 Legally Binding Duties for Corporations under Domestic Criminal Law Not to Commit Modern Slavery;
Anne-Jetske Schaap;

Part 4 Accountability through domestic private law mechanisms;

Chapter 11 Limited Liability and Separate Corporate Personality in Multinational Corporate Groups: Conceptual Flaws, Accountability Gaps and the Case for Profit-Risk Liability;
Paul Dowling;

Chapter 12 The Swiss Federal Initiative on Responsible Business - From Responsibility to Liability
Nicolas Bueno;

Chapter 13 The Mismatch between Human Rights Policies and Contract Law: Improving Contractual Mechanisms to Advance Human Rights Compliance in Supply Chains;
Martijn Scheltema;

Part 5 Conclusion;

Chapter 14 Accountability, International Business Operations and The Law: The Way Forward;
Cedric Ryngaert, Liesbeth Enneking, Ivo Giesen, François Kristen, Lucas Roorda Anne-Jetske Schaap;