An emerging aspect of human rights is that international human rights law applies to multinational organizations and private-sector companies (Fariss, 2014). Some scholars argue that the treaties of the International Bill of Rights and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights applies to the member states of the United Nations (Fariss, 2014; Murdie & Davis, 2012). Most legal experts, however, agree, and the International Court of Justice has adopted the philosophy that the legal requirements extend to every individual, every entity, and every organ of society; which excludes no one, no market, no company, and no cyberspace (Hamann, 2009; Jakobsson & Kotsadam, 2013; Murdie & Davis, …show more content…
This is the result of the landmark case of Filartiga v. Pena-Irala where the United States Federal Courts decided in 1980 that the United States has jurisdiction for violations of law that are guaranteed under international law or any treaty in which the United States is a signatory, which includes the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Bradley, 2013; Weissbrodt, 2008). Many courts in the United States have been proactive in their consideration of cases for human rights issues and applying jurisdiction over companies operating abroad and making companies responsible for human rights abuses, as demonstrated by the cases in the United States under the Alien Tort Claims Act (Aaronson, 2013; Martin-Ortega,