The Criminal Liability of Corporations: A Step Forward in the Implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) marked the end of a long journey towards regulating corporate conduct on this issue. However, they were conceived only as a focal point to guide public, corporate and civil governance towards the respect and protection of human rights. Fo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Sánchez González, Alejandro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Mexican Law Review
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/13640
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.juridicas.unam.mx/index.php/mexican-law-review/article/view/13640
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Business and human rights
corporate criminal liability
human rights due diligence
criminal compliance
Empresas y derechos humanos
responsabilidad penal de las empresas
debida diligencia en derechos humanos
cumplimiento penal empresarial
Descripción
Sumario:The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) marked the end of a long journey towards regulating corporate conduct on this issue. However, they were conceived only as a focal point to guide public, corporate and civil governance towards the respect and protection of human rights. For this reason, the UNGP function as a common platform on which new rules and strategies should be developed. In this sense, as an element of public governance, Mexico adopted the criminal liability of corporations (CLC), which entered into force in 2016, along with the accusatory criminal justice system. Thus, since one of the purposes of criminal law is the subsidiary protection of legal assets —most of which have an underlying fundamental right—, the purpose of this article is to determine whether or not Mexico’s adoption of the CLC enhances the implementation of the UNGP, and if so, to evaluate its scope and limitations. After scrutinizing the UNGP in light of the regulation of the CLC in Mexico, the author argues that, although its performance can be optimized in many ways, the CLC plays an essential role in the area of business and human rights, not only for its direct contributions, but also for the interaction it generates with corporate and civil governance.