Fundamental Rights and the Legal Obligations of Business

David Bilchitz is Professor of Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Law, University of Johannesburg, South Africa and Professor of Law, University of Reading, United Kingdom. He is also Director of the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law. He is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and Vice-President of the International Association of Constitutional Law. He is the author of Poverty and Fundamental Rights: the Justification and Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights (2007) and has published extensively in the area of business and human rights.

'A deeply thoughtful and powerful argument is made in this book that corporations do have legal obligations for their human rights impacts and that decision-makers should act on this. It draws on the author's profound conceptual knowledge and innovative reasoning to offer persuasive and insightful approaches to these important issues. A pleasure to read.' Robert McCorquodale, University of Nottingham

• 1. The Nature and Purpose of the Corporation in Law; Part I: Legal Doctrinal Models for Addressing the Substantive Obligations of Non-State Actors for Fundamental Rights: 2. The State Duty to Protect Model; 3. The Indirect Application Model; 4. The Expanding the State Model; 5. The Direct Obligations Model; Part II: Towards a Multi-Factoral Model for Determining the Substantive Content of Corporate Obligations: 6. The Justification for and Contours of a Multi-Factoral Approach; 7. A Balancing Act – Proportionality in the Corporate Sphere; 8: The Multi-Factoral Model and Positive Obligations for Corporations; Part III: The Institutional Implications of the Multi-Factoral Model; 9: Embedding the Multi-Factoral Model in Corporations: The Role of Corporate Law; 10: Corporate Obligations in a Global World: The Role of International Mechanisms.