7 - Overcoming Legal Barriers to Remedy

Summary

As discussed in Part I, there is increasing international consensus that it is unfair and unjust for parent corporations to receive the immense financial benefits derived from operations of subsidiaries or affiliates while being able to avoid liability when those wholly owned subsidiaries engage in human rights violations, even if the parent corporation is not directly at fault. Indeed, it is clear that the doctrine of limited liability, as applied to corporate parents, should be reconsidered – at least in circumstances such as high-risk industries operating within fragile or high-risk countries where remedies for serious torts are probably unavailable within the legal system of the subsidiary’s domicile.