인권보호를 위한 기업의 사회적 책임(CSR) 규범화의 국제적 논의와 평가

In the aspect of international regulations, our contemporary international society discusses current issues about responsibility for behaviors of non-state actors who get gradually to have influential power second to national power. Particularly, it develops controversies primarily about social influence and issues of ‘business’ that has enormous capital base to exert far-reaching influences to national economy as well as social and political field. Conventionally, business entities whose establishment aims to get profits have been tamed by a paradigm of pursuing only profitability in the traditional framework of market economy system. They develop and implement management policies to maximize profit, but create various issues of human rights, such as low wages, compulsory labor, child labor and unhealthy working environment. And they become a ringleader of any firsthand or secondhand violation of human rights, such as suppression of labor campaigns and forced migration of indigenous people in the course of overseas resources development. In general, business entities comply with domestic laws of a country which their establishment is founded on, so they shall be subject to control and supervision of competent government. However, if they perform business activities in other locations than their place of establishment, it is not easy for even competent government to control their activities. Nowadays, we can see the advent of ‘transnational companies’ that establish overseas affiliates across countries and develop business activities beyond the foundation of home country, and those companies are virtually free from judicial jurisdiction of central government in a country where their head office is located. That is why it is difficult to control their illegal and immoral acts that may result from business activities only in pursuit of profitability. Thus, business entities need to secure human rights under universally applicable standards, and their issues of human rights evolve into ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)’ that requires their voluntary participation and normative control. Today, CSR is discussed in the following two aspects: First, there are discussions about standards and rules by way of international codes of conduct (developed by OECD, ILO, UN and more). Secondly, there are discussions about measurement and assessment of CSR practices (e.g. ISO 26000, GRI Sustainability Reporting, etc). These 2 types of discussion demonstrate that business entities' issues of human rights are appealed to members of international society in the aspect of protecting universal values of mankind. Discussions about making an international norm of CSR for protecting human rights should be noteworthy in that business entities may be required to take any responsibility for protection of human rights, and it is expected that those discussions will have positive influence and roles in the sense that CSR is based on participation of stakeholders involved in business. With regard to effects of institutional learning for business entities' management in favor of human rights, it is expected that these discussions will be more significant in that they can show a future direction of stakeholders' actions.