provide guidance and legal grounds for the effective implementation of
ETOs.30 With respect to the regulation of corporations, international human
rights treaty bodies monitoring implementation of treaties on civil and
political rights,31 economic, social and cultural rights,32 the rights of the
child,33 and on racial discrimination34 have all confirmed that States must
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30
Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, 29 NETH. Q. HUMAN RIGHTS 578 (2011). Available at
http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/web/Institutes/MaastrichtCentreForHumanRights/MaastrichtETO
Principles.htm [hereinafter Maastricht Principles]. In 2011, a group of international legal experts developed
the Maastricht Principles on the Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights. According to the Center for International Environmental law: “The Maastricht Principles
are premised on the global and universal nature of human rights and the notion that human rights are owed
erga omnes to the international community as a whole. However, the Principles do not create new legal
norms. Rather, they articulate the current state of international law regarding ETOs, reflecting many of the
conclusions drawn by international tribunals, U.N. treaty bodies, and Special Procedures. In particular, the
Maastricht Principles provide a basis for conceptualizing the application and implementation of ETOs in
order to secure more effective protection of human rights from third-party violations.” Center for
International Environmental Law, Written Statement to Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on
Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights,
A/HRC/WG.16/1/NGO/3, July 2, 2015, at 14. Available at:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/WGTransCorp/Session1/A.HRC.WG.16.1.NGO.
3.pdf.
31
United Nations Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations on the Sixth Periodic Report of
Germany, 106th Session, November 12, 2012, ¶ 16. Available at
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/DEU/CO/6&L
ang=En.
32
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Statement on the Obligations of
States Parties Regarding the Corproate Sector and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Forty-Sixth
Session, May 20, 2011 at para. 5-6. Available at
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/E.C.12.2011.1-ENG.doc; United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social, and Culutral Rights, General Comment 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard
of Health, Twenty-Second Session, Aug. 11, 2000, at ¶ 39. Available at
http://www.nesri.org/sites/default/files/Right_to_health_Comment_14.pdf;. United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social, and Culutral Rights, General Comment 15: The Right to Water, Twenty-Ninth Session,
Jan. 20, 2003, ¶ 33. Available at
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94; United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations: Finland, December 17, 2014, at ¶ 10.
Available at
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=E/C.12/FIN/CO/6&Lan
g=En; United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Obesrvations on
the Second Periodic Report of China, Including Hong Kong, China, and Macao, China, June 13, 2014, at ¶
13. Available at
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=E%2FC.12%2FCHN%2
FCO%2F2.
33
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 16: On State Obligations
Regarding the Impact of the Business Sector on Children’s Rights, Apr. 17, 2013, at ¶¶ 43-46. Available at
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/GC/CRC-C-GC-16_en.doc [hereinafter General Comment
16].
34
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations:
United States of America, Session 72, Feb. 2008, at para. 30. Available at
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