Menschenrechte und transnationale Unternehmen

What is the responsibility of corporations in terms of human rights? This question is of concern to academia, the public and also currently to businesses. The UN Framework for Business and Human Rights suggests that companies should respect human rights as much as possible in their business activities, while states are obliged to protect human rights. In practice, this theoretical division of labour leads to problems, in particular, in areas where institutional protection of human rights is not guaranteed, i.e. states do not fulfil their protection obligations. At the same time, due to globalisation-related developments, transnational companies are in a good position to negotiate with states, which makes them a kind of political actor. If these companies operate in contexts where human rights are not institutionally protected, does their responsibility go beyond respecting human rights?