Study On The Application Of International Customs In The Cases Of Human Rights Infringement By Transnational Corporations

With the development of globally political and economic integration,more and more cases of international litigation are accepted and tried by domestic courts,and the international rule of law collides with the expanding national judicial power “ Nevsun resources v.Araya ” a case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada,has attracted people’s attention because three workers directly brought suit under customary international law or Canadian tort law.In this case,the first question to be solved by the Supreme Court of Canada is whether the prohibition of slavery,forced labor and inhumane treatment constitutes customary international law? Secondly,if it constitutes customary international law,can workers bring lawsuits in domestic courts according to customary international law? Finally,whether transnational corporations should bear tort liability according to customary international law? As an important source of international law,customary international law is full of disputes both in theory and practice.Its recognition and identification plays an important role in the development of international law.With the rapid development of transnational corporations in the context of economic globalization,the cases of human rights violations are also increasing.Whether it is possible to bring a lawsuit in domestic courts according to customary international law has aroused controversy on the liability of transnational corporations in violation of customary international law.This paper starts with the case study.And it makes a specific analysis and discussion on the focus of the case,whether customary international law can be used in the case of transnational corporations’ human rights violations.The paper is divide into four chapters.The first chapter analyzes the case materials of Nathan resources company v.Alaya case,and finds out three focus of the dispute,and also three main argumentation issues in this paper.The second chapter recognizes whether the prohibition of slavery,forced labor and inhuman treatment constitutes customary international law from national practice and legal conviction,and considers that the prohibition of slavery,forced labor and inhuman treatment belongs to compulsory law.The third chapter mainly analyzes the relationship between international law(especially customary international law)and china,and analyzes how the common international law can be applied in domestic judicial practice by case study.In many cases,although the domestic courts applied customary international law,they did not recognize that the civil liability of transnational corporations constituted customary international law,that is,the concept of "corporate responsibility" is not existed in customary international law.In the case of Nathan Resources Corporation v.Alaya,the Canadian court proved that even though the liability of transnational corporations does not constitute customary international law from the perspective of human rights,its responsibility should also be assumed,which will greatly promote the development of international law.Chapter four analyzes the reasons why transnational corporations bear human rights responsibility and the significance of customary international law to multinational corporations.It is believed that the MNCs’ responsibility for human rights based on customary international law can not only break through the theoretical system of the main body of international law,but also attach great important significance to the protection of human rights and the self-improvement of transnational corporations.