The Cambridge Companion to Business and Human Rights Law

How can businesses operate profitably and sustainably while ensuring that they are applying human rights? It is possible to apply human rights while at the same time decreasing cost and making human rights contribute to profits. Yet business efforts alone are insufficient, and states must possess sufficient regulatory power to work together with businesses and investors – not only to improve human rights but also to foster development more broadly. This textbook, the first of its kind, explores all aspects of the links between business operations and human rights. Its twenty-five chapters guide readers systematically through all the particular features of this intersection, integrating legal and business approaches. Thematic sections cover conceptual and regulatory frameworks, remedies and dispute resolution, and practical enforcement tools. Ideal for courses in business, law, policy and international development, the book is also essential reading for managers in large corporations.

Ilias Bantekas is Professor of Transnational Law at Hamad bin Khalifa University (Qatar Foundation), College of Law and Adjunct Professor in the Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He serves as consultant to several international organisations and is regularly appointed arbitrator in international commercial disputes. He has written close to 170 articles and 17 books, including International Human Rights Law and Practice, Third Edition (with L. Oette, 2020) and Introduction to International Arbitration (2015).

Michael Ashley Stein is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School since 2005. He teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Medical School, holds an Extraordinary Professorship at the University of Pretoria Faculty of Law's Centre for Human Rights, and is a visiting professor at the Free University of Amsterdam Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences' Athena Institute. His authoritative and path-breaking scholarship has been published worldwide by leading journals and academic presses, and has been supported by numerous fellowships and awards.