Evaluating the United Nations Guiding Principles on business and human rights two years after their adoption

Abstract

The issue of human rights and corporate responsibility has been debated internationally for a long time. The consensus reached by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights after their adoption in June 2011 has implied a change of paradigm that poses new challenges to international law. Therefore, it is appropriate to analyze the status quo two years after the adoption of this instrument, especially regarding the debate on the existence of a corporate responsibility in the field of human rights, the complex question of extraterritoriality under international law –both in its regulatory and adjudicative approaches–, and on the non–binding nature of the Guiding Principles, through the use of cases that are currently under discussion or that have been recently resolved in national jurisdictions.