respect human rights, which arises from a “global standard of expected
conduct applicable to all businesses in all situations.”25 The commentary
under Principle 11 states:
The responsibility to respect human rights is a
global standard of expected conduct for all
business enterprises wherever they operate. It
exists independently of States’ abilities and/or
willingness to fulfil their own human rights
obligations, and does not diminish those
obligations. And it exists over and above
compliance with national laws and regulations
protecting human rights.26
The Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the Guiding
Principles in its resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011.27 According to the Guiding
Principles, corporations bear a responsibility to respect human rights,28 and
“[s]tates should set out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises
domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human rights
throughout their operations.”29
States have obligations with respect to human rights, both within their
territories and extraterritorially, based on international law. Specifically,
states have extraterritorial obligations (ETOs) to respect, protect and fulfil
human rights abroad. The Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial
Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
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on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, Seventeenth
Session, Mar. 21, 2011, http://www.ohchr.org/documents/issues/business/A.HRC.17.31.pdf (last accessed
on Apr. 20, 2016) [hereinafter Guiding Principles].
25
United Nations-Office of the UN High Commissioner, The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human
Rights: An Interpretive Guide, 2012 at 13-14,
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HR.PUB.12.2_En.pdf (last accessed on Apr. 20, 2016)
[hereinafter Interpretive Guide].
26
Guiding Principles, supra note 24, at ¶ 11.
27
United Nations Human Rights Council, Resolution Adopted by the Human Rights Council: 17/4 Human
Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, Seventeenth Session, July 06,
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/17/4 (last accessed on Apr. 20, 2016).
28
Guiding Principles, supra note 24, intro ¶ 6.
29
Guiding Principles, supra note 24, ¶ 2.
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