BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS / Šturma, Mozetic (eds)

INTRODUCTION This book is the new outcome of the continuing project of cooperation between Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Law (in particular its Research Centre for Human Rights, UNCE) and the University of West of Santa Catarina (Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Unoesc) in Joaçaba, SC, Brazil. The project is in line with the new research strategy of Charles University in Prague, which seeks to promote internationalization of research, including the cooperation with universities in Latin America and the Far East. The cooperation between the CU Faculty of Law and the Unoesc was established in the beginning of 2014, on the occasion of the research stay and lecture of Professor Vinicius Mozetic in Prague. The next step was the agreement to co-organize two conferences and publications on the subject of International and Internal Mechanisms of Fundamental Rights. The first took place in October 2014 in Joaçaba, SC. The second took place in October 2015 at the CU Faculty of Law, in Prague. The next conference on the topic of “Business and Human Rights” was organized by the Research Centre (UNCE) at the CU Faculty of Law in Prague in November 2017. Some chapters develop, in a largely amended and expanded manner, the ideas presented at the 2017 Prague conference. However, the publication is not just a collection of the papers presented at the conference. Instead, it is a self-contained book which includes chapters written by professors and researchers from the CU Faculty of Law and the Unoesc and/or other universities in Brazil. The edited book contains 11 Czech and 9 Brazilian contributions. The chapters by Czech authors were written in English; those by Brazilian authors were translated from Portuguese. The book appears in 2018 when we commemorate the 70 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). It is a foundational document, marking the modern turn to individual human rights. In spite of its non-binding form (United Nations General Assembly resolution), it sets the basic catalogue of human rights which would be later developed in treaty instruments, both general and specialized. In addition and with reference to the subject of this book, the Universal Declaration also distinguishes itself from later instruments in two important aspects. First, it does not separate yet civil and political rights from economic, social and cultural rights. Second, it also reminds the social context and human obligations as a corollary to human rights. In particular, Article 28 provides that “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.” This may be also interpreted in terms of positive obligations of States and even in terms of sustainable development. Next, Article 29 (para. 1) sets forth that “everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.” This seems to be of special importance for the research in the topic of business and human rights, where the applicability of major human rights treaties is open to questions. The book takes inspiration from the Universal Declaration and tries to articulate questions and to give answers to many complex problems of human rights in the contemporary society.

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