Browsing by Author "Uusitalo, Tiina"

The globalisation has positively affected the global economy, trade and labour possibilities. It has also caused a change in the global governance, where the sovereign states are no longer the sole actors in the field of international law. However, the international law has not evolved in the same pace as the world. In the power play with the States are international organisations and private entities such as corporations, sometimes larger in resources than of the States where they operate. The research question of the thesis is: “How does the OECD regulate business and human rights?” The aim of this thesis is to examine the OECD Guidelines on multinational enterprises and human rights and the emerging role of the organization in global governance as a standard setter. The thesis will not only discuss the guidelines as a recommendation from the OECD, but also the normative power OECD’s soft law initiatives and national policy assessments have in national policy-making. The research was conducted by analysing relevant legal documents and literature. The result of this research is that multinational enterprise’s responsibility to protect human rights cannot be sufficiently answered through traditional international law. The better option to provide protection for individuals is through binding treaty or soft law initiatives. At the moment the most potential tool for regulating corporate conduct are the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In order for the Guidelines to ensure effective protection, some amendments would be required. The Guidelines and the National Contact Points (NCP) are a weak authority and they are voluntary by their nature. The conclusion of this research project is that in order to make the Guidelines more effective the governments adhering to them would have to engage more in the implementation process, e.g. taking part in peer review processes, promoting the Guidelines, strengthening their NCPs and imposing material sanctions to the enterprises failing to cooperate.