Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and New Models of Co-Regulation in the Field of Business and Human Rights

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, a new paradigm of international cooperation, taking the form of a vast array of so-called ‘multi-stakeholder initiatives’ (MSIs), has increasingly gained importance in the field of business and human rights (B&HRs), where MSIs engage in the establishment and implementation of standards of conduct, reporting formats, and certification schemes, directed at helping companies to address the possible adverse human rights impacts of their activities. Although these developments have received increasing scholarly attention, there remains a great need for further in-depth inquiry about the nature and effects of this new model of co-regulation. In particular, what can be said about the strengths and weaknesses of multi-stakeholder standard-setting in advancing the corporate accountability agenda? What benefits and risks does the rise of a hybrid public-private regulatory approach create? What is the role and impact of non-legally binding norms derived from MSIs in relation to other sources in B&HRs? Does the tendency towards ‘hybridisation’ represent a unique feature of the field of corporate accountability? Or does it reflect, instead, a more general trend in the evolving dynamics of international norm-making? What do insights from the phenomenon of MS standard-setting in B&HRs add to the ongoing debate on the pluralisation of the actors, and the types of instruments, by and through which norms are produced at the international level? And how such insights can affect, more broadly, the traditional conception of international law and international law-identification? In an effort to contribute to a comprehensive investigation of the nature, implications and repercussions of the evolution of the sources of B&HRs law, the proposed chapter seeks to address these still open questions. First, it describes the emergence and key features of MSIs in the field of B&HRs. Secondly, it examines the concrete example of a well-established MSI – the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights – as a useful case study from which valuable insights can be drawn. Finally, it delves into a critical evaluation of multi-stakeholder standard-setting both in the context of B&HRs law as well as, more broadly, of the evolving dynamics affecting contemporary international law-making.