Expanding and Contracting the UN Guiding Principles: an Analysis of Recent Inter-American Human Rights Court Decisions

Abstract

In 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) decided two cases for advancing the increasing jurisprudence on the implementation of human rights and business standards, yet there is still a gap to fill. Despite the important development with regards to the State obligation to supervise business operations, the decisions do not introduce further definitions of companies’ responsibilities on human rights nor the potential of creating mandatory remedies standards for private agents. Through the analysis of the 2021 case law, this article concludes that the IACtHR has been increasingly using the UN Guiding Principles to argue for its rulings but has missed the opportunity to generate greater accountability for companies and private actors in its decision-making.