Eduardo Gill Pedro

Project summary

Companies as European super-citizens? – Do human rights apply to legal persons under European law?

If companies also have human rights, does this mean that they count in the democratic process in the same way as human beings? The purpose of this project is to identify the principles that determine whether or not a company is considered to hold a human right in a particular situation.

 

National courts in EU Member States are increasingly faced with companies seeking protection under European human rights law, both under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)* and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This reflects both the “Europeanisation” of national law and the growing influence of European legal norms on the legal systems of the Member States, as well as developments within these European legal orders themselves.

 

Within the EU, freedom to conduct a business has assumed a more prominent role in the Union’s constitutional framework. In the context of the ECHR, the European Court of Human Rights has become increasingly receptive to applications brought by companies. Yet a legal person is not a human being, and extending human rights to legal persons may therefore appear problematic.

 

Human rights are generally understood as fundamental moral claims that apply to all human beings by virtue of their humanity and as an expression of the equal worth of all people. Do legal persons deserve the same moral status as human beings? Moreover, insofar as human rights safeguard the equal worth of individuals, they are also a prerequisite for democracy.

 

*European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.