To What Extent Does International Law Matter in the Field of Business and Human Rights?

This Chapter offers an overview of the arguments and counter-arguments that characterize the discourse about the role that international law plays in demanding that business entities respect human rights. In particular, this Chapter aims to criticize the notion that international law is not a suitable for regulating the conduct of business entities and that it should be set aside in favour of principles of global administration (Global Administrative Law – gal). In the chapter it will be argued, by contrast, that international law is a system of rules that has already proved to be able to adapt to societal changes and that, accordingly, it could well offer a reliable system of sources of law in the field of business and human rights. This will be demonstrated through an analysis of the evolving notion of subjectivity in relation to business entities, the role of soft law in imposing rights and duties upon the same actors and, finally, the existing mechanisms that ensure compliance.