Dalia Palombo - Business and Human Rights: The Obligations of the European Home States

BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

This book analyses the accountability of European home States for their failure to secure the human rights of victims from host States against transnational enterprises. It argues for a reconfiguration of the relationship between multinational enterprises and individuals, both of which have been profoundly changed by globalisation. Enterprises are now supranational entities with numerous affiliates all over the world. Likewise, individuals are increasingly part of a global community. Despite this, the relationship between the two is deregulated. Addressing this gap, this study proposes an innovative business and human rights litigation strategy. Human rights advocates could file a test case against a European home State, at the European Court of Human Rights, for its failure to secure the rights of victims vis--vis European multinational enterprises. The book illustrates why such a strategy is needed, and points to the lack of effective legal remedies against European multinationals. The goal is to empower victims from developing countries against European States which are failing to hold multinational enterprises accountable for human rights abuses.

Business and Human Rights

The Obligations of the European
Home States

Dalia Palombo

I f i have learned anything during these years, it is that it is impossible to write a book without the invaluable help of people who support you in the good and bad days of this process. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who helped me in my research and writing.

First, I would like to warmly thank a number of academics and practitioners who have helped me enormously during these years of research. A profound thanks goes to my PhD supervisors, Fons Coomans and Bruno De Witte, for having both contributed enormously with their different expertise to bring the best out of my thesis. I would also like to thank all of my examiners: Jan Eijsbouts, Menno Kamminga, David Kershaw and Yuval Shany. A special thank goes to David Kershaw for teaching me how to teach and for inspiring me beyond words to pursue an academic career. A warm thanks goes also to Yuval Shany for encouraging me to publish my thesis as a book and for supporting me throughout this process. Thanks to Andrea Bianchi, who was the first person who ever inspired me to open a book of international law. Thanks to Tyler Giannini and Susan Farbstein who have introduced me to the issue of business and human rights at the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic. A warm thanks to Susan Marks and Conor Gearty for their invaluable help and support in the transformation of my thesis into a book and for all they have taught and are continuing to teach me everyday. Thanks also to all of those academics and institutions who funded my PhD research: Hlne Ruiz Fabri from the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law, Eyal Benvenisti from Tel Aviv University and Armin von Bogdandy and Anne Peters from the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg. I am also extremely grateful to the Department of Law at the London School of Economics for funding my post-doc which allowed me to transform my PhD thesis into this book. Thanks so much to Daniel Leader, from the law firm Leigh Day, for the time he took to discuss with me the business and human rights cases that he had litigated. Also, a warm thanks to Sinead Moloney, Tom Adams, Sasha Jawed and Richard Cox for their invaluable help during the review and editorial process, and to the anonymous reviewers who have supported the publication of my book.

Second, my heartfelt thanks to my family and friends. I dedicate this manuscript to Alex, my husband. Thanks to his encouragement, I started a PhD when I was unsure as to the next steps I would have taken in my life. I thank him for always being there to support me and for having read over and over different versions of my work. Thanks to my parents, Viviano and Danila, and my brother, David, for their constant support in life. Grazie mamma, papa e David per avermi sempre aiutata a realizzare i miei sogni. Thanks to my aunt Carla who spent countless hours teaching me how to write in English and who has inspired me beyond belief to study law. A big thanks to my friends Tleuzhan, Parvathi, Alain and Edoardo, who have all shared with me the joys and difficulties of being a PhD student; thanks also to my good friends Cristiana and Gemma for their constant support throughout this process. Last but not least, thanks to my dog Erin, for always being there to cheer me up in the never-ending days of writing.