Corporations and Human Rights

Mary sends in the case she mentioned in class:

I was able to find the text of one of the corporation/human rights cases I referred to in class electronically.  It is here (Dole Foods Case).  This case deals with issues of sovereignty, and whether a corporation is tied enough to a national government as to allow it to seek immunity from civil suit under the Federal Sovereign Immunities Act.  This is a central theme, and a Catch-22, for the topic--if a corporation is not sufficiently "state-like" it often does not have to uphold international conventions or certain constitutional protections (protecting citizens only from state actions), but if it is too "state-like" it may be immune from suit in domestic courts.

Here a packet of newspaper articles and legal articles regarding corporations and human rights that I was able to find on one of my memory sticks.  It's long (about 101 pages), and some articles are more relevant than others--but it provides a brief overview of the topic.  I don't know if people would be interested in it--but I found it useful when I began to research the topic during my last year in law school.

I'll also bring the two books to class--they have the text of two statutes that are key (the Sovereign Immunities Act and the Torture Victims Act), as well as an introduction to the topic (and citations to articles people can read if they are interested).