A Discussion On Human Rights Protection Obligations Of Transnational Tobacco Corporations

As economic globalization accelerates,transnational corporations have emerged as an undeniable power all over the world.In the economic field,the annual revenue of certain transnational corporations exceeds the GNP of certain sovereign states.Meanwhile,in the political arena,they are more interested in networking with the parties,government and other national bodies of host countries.On the one hand,economic and political advantage helps these corporations gain profits.On the other hand,it results in the increase of human rights violation cases.Traditionally,international human rights law mainly regulates sovereign states,which are the center of the framework.Nevertheless,the number of transnational corporations are growing with the free movement of international capitals.Meanwhile,the principle of free trade entitles many rights to transnational companies,yet little obligation is imposed.Inevitably,violating international human rights become a means to the end,that is,to maximum profits.Human rights obligations of transnational corporations have been a hot topic in the international society.Up till today,the regulations concerned include domestic law,self-regulation codes of conduct of transnationals and international law.The current society calls for transnationals to undertake human rights obligations,and formulating relevant international treaties guarantees it.Transnational tobacco corporations have their special features.While there is much research on the human rights obligations of transnationals in general,it seems necessary to discuss the obligations of transnational tobacco companies and regulate their conduct particularly.This thesis intends to discuss human rights obligations of transnational tobacco corporations.In the first chapter,the author conducts a case analysis of certain transnational tobacco corporation,pointing out its violations of human rights,and the international law related.In the second chapter,existing international and regional human rights regulations are discussed.In the next chapter,advanced experience on regulating transnational tobacco corporations' human rights obligations are analyzed.In the final chapter,the author tries to put forward a more feasible regime of regulating human rights protection obligations of transnational tobacco corporations within the globe.