ABSTRACT
One of the most relevant effects of globalization on the law concerns the role played by private actors operating in the economic fi eld (Clapham 2006 ). In particular, transnational corporations (hereinafter TNCs) have acquired not only increasing freedom of movement among legal orders, but also the ability to infl uence the lawmaking process within the transnational law sphere, as it has been shown by the diffusion of the “new lex mercatoria” (Carbonneau 1990 ). More generally, it has been widely recognized that corporations play a pervasive role in public national and international policy-making (Addo 1999 , p. 3). This awareness has led to the examination of how TNCs can be made responsible and accountable. That is why increasing attention has been given in the literature to situations in which private actors like TNCs may violate or even, as I will show later on, promote human rights. Speaking of the internationalization of human rights in the globalization age means considering the way in which international law addresses non-state actors in order to regulate their conduct and to compel such actors to respect principles,rules, and good practices.
