Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 52 (2020) Crime as Cognitive Constraint to respect human rights is based on the “basic expectation society has of business in relation to human rights.” 151 The lack of legal obligation on corporations under international law can be traced to the statecentric design of the international legal system, 152 where only states are considered subjects capable of fulfilling legal obligation. This assessment of international law, however, has been criticized. Rosalyn Higgins, for one, described this phenomenon as “an intellectual prison of our own choosing.” She instead referred to corporations as “participants.” 153 Andrew Clapham, on the other hand, preferred to imbue corporations with “limited international legal personality.” 154 In the beginning of his mandate, John Ruggie noted the failure of the draft 2003 Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with respect to Human Rights (“draft 2003 Norms”). 155 The draft 2003 Norms would have, if adopted, directly obligated transnational corporations and other business enterprises to come up with “internal rules of operation”156 that would implement the following rights in their business: right to security of persons, workers’ rights, equal opportunity and nondiscriminatory treatment, respect for national sovereignty and human rights, environmental protection, and consumer protection. 157 The https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/SRSGTransCorpInd ex.aspx (last visited March 25, 2020). 151. JOHN GERARD RUGGIE, JUST BUSINESS: MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS 90–94 (2013) (narrating how Shell lost its “social license” with the Ogoni tribe in Nigeria to make the point that social norms “exist over and above compliance with laws and regulations”) [hereinafter JUST BUSINESS]. 152. See Emeka Duruigbo, Corporate Accountability and Liability for International Human Rights Abuses: Recent Changes and Recurring Challenges, 6 NW. J. INT’L HUM. RTS. 223, 226 (2008). 153. ROSALYN HIGGINS, PROBLEMS HOW WE USE IT 49 (1994). AND PROCESS: INTERNATIONAL LAW AND 154. ANDREW CLAPHAM, HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS OF NON-STATE ACTORS 238, at 279 (2006). 155. UN Commission on Human Rights Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/12/Rev.2, Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Norms on the responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights (Aug. 26, 2003) [hereinafter Draft 2003 Norms]. 156. Id. ¶ 15. 157. Id. ¶¶ 2–14; Paragraph 10 of the 2003 Norms arguable provides the best example: “Transnational corporations and other business enterprises shall recognize and respect applicable norms of international law, national laws and regulations, as well as administrative practices, the rule of law, the public interest, development objectives, social, economic and cultural policies including transparency, accountability and prohibition of 169