Multinational Enterprises and International Law
About This Course
At the end of the course, participants will attain the following:
1. An interdisciplinary overview of the business and legal organisation of Multinational Corporations (MNEs) and of the regulation of their activities;
2. An appreciation of the complexity of the regulatory environment for international business as a product of national, regional and multilateral policies and rules;
3. A critical understanding of the overlaps and limits of home and host state regulatory and enforcement jurisdiction with respect to MNEs;
4. An awareness of the extent and limits of MNE�s obligations under international human rights, environmental protection, investment, and taxation instruments; the mechanisms for enforcement and challenge; and the role of non-legal mechanisms in bringing about compliance;
5. An understanding of how MNE activities can implicate rights and obligations in other spheres of international law, even when the MNE may not directly hold a right or obligation, e.g., international law relating to social welfare and development, international human rights; international environmental law;
6. A critical appreciation of the position of the MNE in international investment law, including the relationship between foreign direct investment and state sovereignty, substantive standards of protection owed to the MNE and dispute settlement mechanisms.
What You'll Learn
This course examines the evolving regime for the regulation and protection of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in international law. Although MNEs remain creations of domestic law, the cross-border activities of MNEs increasingly come within the scope of instruments creating obligations and/or rights in international law. In assessing the challenges faced by states and MNEs alike with respect to such transnational regulation, the course takes a rounded and interdisciplinary view of the issues involved, addressing both the commercial and social dimensions of MNE action. In addition to considering the regulatory powers of individual states, developments under international instruments on human rights, labour conditions, finance, taxation and investment are addressed.
Entry Requirements
A good Bachelor's or Juris Doctor degree in Law