Transitional Justice, Corporate Accountability and Socio-Economic Rights Lessons from Argentina Transitional Justice Series

This book explores the intersection of two emergent and vibrant fields of study in international human rights law: transitional justice and corporate accountability for human rights abuses.

While both have received significant academic and political attention, the potential links between them remain largely unexplored. This book addresses the normative question of how international human rights law should deal with corporate accountability and violations of economic, social and cultural rights in transitional justice processes. Drawing on the Argentinian transitional justice process, the book outlines the theoretical and practical challenges of including corporate accountability in transitional justice processes through existing mechanisms. Offering specific insights about how to deal with those challenges, it argues that consideration of the role of all actors, and the whole spectrum of human rights violated, is crucial to properly address the root causes of violence and conflict as well as to contribute to a sustainable and positive peace.

This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to students and scholars of transitional justice, human rights law, corporate law and international law.

Book Abstract

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I – TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS

Chapter 1 - Analysing the Transitional Justice paradigm

Introduction

Background and evolution of Transitional Justice

Defining the Transitional Justice Paradigm

Transitional Justice Processes and Mechanisms

Truth

Justice

Reparations

Institutional Reform

Transitional Justice Theories

Socio-political aspects of Transitional Justice

Intermediate conclusions: A unique model of transitional justice?

Chapter 2 – Socio-economic Rights in Transitional Justice

Introduction

Contextualising socio-economic rights in International law

Labour rights as socio-economic rights: a particular focus on freedom of association at the workplace

Labour rights as human rights

Freedom of association at the workplace: the right to form and join trade unions and the right to collective bargain

Traditional invisibility of socio-economic rights in transitional justice contexts

Addressing socio-economic rights in transitional justice processes

Truth and reconciliation commissions

Judicial Processes

Reparations policies

Institutional reform

Intermediate conclusions: the added value of addressing socio-economic rights in transitional justice

PART II: CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE

Chapter 3 – Corporate legal accountability for human rights abuses

Introduction

Clarifying the notion of corporate complicity for human rights abuses

Policy meaning and legal implications

Categories of corporate complicity

Direct corporate complicity

Indirect complicity

Silent complicity

Corporate accountability under the existing legal regimes

International and domestic criminal law

Corporate criminal responsibility

Accomplice liability under domestic criminal law

Enforcement mechanisms and practical obstacles

Civil law of remedies

Elements of legal liability

Causation and complicity

Allocating liability within corporate groupsSpecial mention to the Alien Tort Statute

Enforcement mechanisms and practical obstacles

International human rights law

Background and recent developments

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Pillar I: the State’s duty to protect

Pillar II: the corporate responsibility to respect

Pillar III: the right of access to remedy

Enforcement mechanisms and practical obstacles

Intermediate conclusions: the challenging task of holding corporations legally accountable for human rights abuses

Chapter 4 – Linking corporate accountability and transitional justice

Introduction

Engaging corporations in peacebuilding strategies

Challenges for the international framework of business and human rights in transitional justice

Addressing corporate accountability and socio-economic rights in transitional justice

Truth process

Justice process

Reparation process

Institutional reform process

Intermediate conclusions: The need to address corporate accountability in transitional justice

PART III – A CASE STUDY: ARGENTINA

Chapter 5 - Proceso de Reorganización Nacional: the dark ages of Argentinian history (1976-1983)

Introduction

International and national background

Coup and establishment of military juntas

Military juntas

Economic policy and social repression

Civilian involvement: a special focus on corporations and economic groups

Workers as a target of repression

The extended notion of ‘subversion’

Suppression of workers’ rights and trade unions intervention

Human rights violations

Intermediate conclusions: business involvement in human rights violations

Chapter 6 - Nunca Más: The transitional justice process in Argentina

Introduction

Political stages of the transitional justice process in Argentina

First period- new democratic governments and first accountability initiatives (1983-1989)

Second period - amnesty and pardons (1989-2003)

Third period – new accountability era (2003-2015)

Current stage and challenges

Transitional justice mechanisms and accountability for socio-economic rights

Truth

Argentina’s truth commission: CONADEP

Truth trials

Justice

Domestic trials

Lawsuits in foreign courts

Reparations

Institutional Reform

Corporate accountability and the transitional justice process in Argentina

Intermediate conclusions: Argentina’s transitional justice approach to corporate accountability and socio-economic rights

Conclusions

Bibliography

Annex – List of interviews

Index

Laura García Martín is a postdoctoral researcher and teaching assistant at University of Seville and University of Antwerp. Her research interests include the socio-economic dimension of transitional justice and business and human rights.