Despite the continuous addition of regulatory initiatives concerning corporate human rights responsibilities, what we witness more often than not is a situation of corporate impunity for human rights abuses. The Bhopal gas leak – examined as a site of human rights violations rather than as a mass tort or an environmental tragedy – illustrates that the regulatory challenges that the victims experienced in 1984 have not yet been overcome. This book grapples with and offers solutions to three major regulatory challenges to obligating companies to comply with human rights norms whilst doing business, and asks; why companies should adhere to human rights, what these responsibilities are, and how to ensure that companies comply with their responsibilities.

Building on literature in the fields of law, human rights, business ethics, management, regulation and philosophy, this book proposes a new ‘integrated theory of regulation’ to overcome inadequacies of the existing regulatory framework in order to humanize business.

This book will be of interest to scholars, students, researchers, policy makers and human rights activists working in the fields of Law, Business and Human Rights.

Contents

1. Introduction 2. Understanding ‘Bhopal’ Afresh 3. Evaluation of Existing Regulatory Initiatives: An Analytical Framework 4. Existing Regulatory Initiatives: An Evaluation of (In)adequacy 5. Just Profit or Just Profit: Why Should Corporations Have Human Rights Obligations? 6. How to Behave in ‘Rome’? Determining Standards Applicable to MNCs 7. The Integrated Theory of Regulation: A Critical Response to ‘Responsive Regulation’ 8. Vision of an Integrated Framework of Corporate Regulation 9. Conclusion

Author Bio

Surya Deva is Associate Professor at the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong. His primary research interests lie in Corporate Social Responsibility, Indo-Chinese Constitutional Law, International Huts, Globalization, and Sustainable Development.