The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:05:38 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Exploring the Roles Corporate and Securities Law Can Play in Encouraging Corporations to Respect Human Rights – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Exploring the Roles Corporate and Securities Law Can Play in Encouraging Corporations to Respect Human Rights https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2010/02/10/exploring-the-roles-corporate-and-securities-law-can-play-in-encouraging-corporations-to-respect-human-rights/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=exploring-the-roles-corporate-and-securities-law-can-play-in-encouraging-corporations-to-respect-human-rights https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2010/02/10/exploring-the-roles-corporate-and-securities-law-can-play-in-encouraging-corporations-to-respect-human-rights/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:01:12 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/?p=6861?d=20150120103716EST Posted by John Ruggie, Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School, on Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Editor's Note:

John Ruggie is the Berthold Beitz Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, an Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights (SRSG).

Recently York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto convened an expert meeting in support of the Corporate Law Tools Project of my UN mandate, titled “Corporate Law and Human Rights: Opportunities and Challenges of Using Corporate Law to Encourage Corporations to Respect Human Rights.” The consultation was also supported by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and further assistance was provided by Export Development Canada and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I was appointed in 2005 by then UN Secretary‐General Kofi Annan, pursuant to a broad mandate adopted by the then UN Commission on Human Rights, to identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability regarding human rights, including the role of states. In June 2008, after extensive global consultation with business, governments and civil society, I proposed a policy framework to the UN Human Rights Council (Council) for better managing business and human rights challenges. The Council was unanimous in welcoming the framework.

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