Article
Legal accountability of non-State actors for human rights violations abroad: March developments in Geneva
NGOs..., victims and States, are calling for non-State actors to be bound by enforceable legal obligations to comply with human rights standards. This is being pursued from two different angles in the human rights system...First, in relation to States, many are calling for recognition of the existing extra-territorial obligations of States under human rights treaties...Regarding corporate activities abroad, the extra-territorial obligation to protect obliges States to ensure that businesses incorporated or domiciled within their jurisdiction do not violate human rights abroad...Second, there is a strong push for greater accountability of business actors for human rights abuses through a binding international legal instrument...and increasing frustration with the slow pace of implementation and unenforceability of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.