ARTICLES

In search of philosophical justifications and suitable models for the horizontal application of human rights

Danwood Mzikenge Chirwa

Associate Professor of Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa

SUMMARY

This article critiques the dominant view that human rights do not bind non-state actors. It ties the dominant discourse to the natural rights theory and, to a lesser extent, the positivist school of thought. A critique of these traditions reveals that there are no insurmountable philosophical barriers to recognising the application of human rights to non-state actors and the private sphere. Drawing on Marxist and feminist philosophical schools, as well as African conceptions of human rights, it argues that the view that non-state actors should be bound by human rights can be defended philosophically. The article ends with an analysis of the various options through which human rights obligations of non-state actors may be enforced within a domestic constitutional framework.

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* LLB (Hons) (Malawi), LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa) (Pretoria), LLD (Western Cape); Danwood.Chirwa@uct.ac.za
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2 In Southern Africa, eg, a number of TNCs have been involved in the provision of such important basic services as water and electricity. See generally D McDonald & G Ruiters (eds) The age of commodity: Water privatization in Southern Africa (2005);         [ Links ] DM Chirwa 'Privatisation of water in Southern Africa: A human rights perspective' (2004) 4 African Human Rights Law journal 218.         [ Links ]
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4 The exceptions in Africa are Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Malawi and South Africa.
5 See UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Organisations with Regard to Human Rights, UN ESCOR, 55th session, Agenda Item 4, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub2/2003/12/Rev.2.
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33 As above.
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35 As above.
36 Marx (n 28 above) 57.
37 As above.
38 Unger (n 30 above) 274.
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43 As above.
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52 Mutua (n 46 above) 75.
53 Mutua (n 46 above) 81.
54 Ibhawoh (n 51 above) 46.
55 As above. The communitarian conception of rights is not exclusive to pre-colonial African societies. Pollis notes that the values of human dignity and humanity also existed in Confucianism and Buddhism. In these societies, a community was responsible for ensuring 'the survival and security needs both of its members and those outside the communal group', 'for without this there was no human dignity'. See Pollis (n 10 above) 16.
56 See arts 27-29 and 20 & 31 respectively.
57 See eg HWO Okoth-Ogendo 'Human rights and peoples' rights: What point is Africa trying to make?' in Cohen et al (n 46 above) 74 79.
58 See HC Strickland 'The state action doctrine and the Rehnquist Court' (1991) 18 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 587 645,         [ Links ] noting that '[t]he state generally has no constitutional obligation to intervene in private disputes either to protect individuals from harm inflicted by other private entities or to force the wrongful private entities to compensate the victims of their wrongdoing'.
59 I Brownlie System of the law of nations: State responsibility: Part 1 (1983) 9; Phosphates in Morocco (Italy v France) (Preliminary Objections) [1938] PCIJ (Ser A/B) No 74 28; United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran (United States of America v Iran) (Judgment) [1980] ICJ Rep 3.
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61 DM Chirwa 'The doctrine of state responsibility as a potential means of making private actors accountable for human rights' (2004) 5 Melbourne Journal of International Law 1 13-14.
62 [1988] Inter-Am Court HR (Ser C) No 4.
63 n 62 above, para 172.
64 Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) & Another (2001) AHRLR 60 (ACHPR 2001).
65 2001 10 BCLR 995 (CC).
66 n 65 above, para 63.
67 See Chirwa (n 61 above) 26-28 33-35.
68 Lüth case (1958), 7 BVerfGE 198. The facts and holding as discussed herein are based on the English translation of the case in DP Kommers The constitutional jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany (1997) 361-368.
69 n 68 above, 363.
70 As above.
71 As above.
72 n 68 above, 367.
73 A Barak 'Constitutional human rights and private law' in D Friedmann & D Barak-Erez (eds) Human rights in private law (2001) 13 22; MJ Horan 'Contemporary constitutionalism and legal relationships between individuals' (1976) 25 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 848 864-866.
74 A Clapham 'The "Drittwirkung" of the Convention' in R MacDonald et al (eds) The European system for the protection of human rights (1993) 163.
75 The former provides that when applying a provision of the Bill of Rights to a natural or juristic person, a court 'must apply, or if necessary develop, the common law to the extent that legislation does not give effect to that right'. The latter provides that '[w]hen interpreting any legislation, and when developing the common law or customary law, every court, tribunal or forum must promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights'.
76 [1973] 1 IR 121 134.
77 [1988] I LRM 629.
78 As above.