This second volume examines laws relating to the civil liabilities of corporations and states in connection with torts or other breaches of international law and human rights law. It illustrates how particular legal principles or rules can be applied or developed to promote corporate accountability, with legal duties that arise under tort law or statutory law.
Businesses operate within particular legal regulatory regimes and also within the framework of obligations imposed in tort law. Such laws aim to shape or constrain behaviour for the protection of others in society. There are also environmental protection laws which aim to prevent the release of noxious or hazardous substances, and occupational health and safety laws for the protection of employees. The law of negligence in tort imposes general obligations on persons to take reasonable care to prevent harm to others in circumstances where there is a duty of care.
Companies, as legal persons, are required to comply with such legal obligations.
