The history of the international law of responsible business

In the Middle Ages, rules concerning corporate responsibility and liability were part of the doctrine of authors writing in the traditions of canon law, Roman law and theology. From the later sixteenth century, natural law and ius gentium doctrine stipulated rules of international law in reference to trade. It was only in the nineteenth century that corporate actions abroad were regulated in domestic law and treaties. This chapter addresses the period up until the Second World War. Admittedly, most rules on responsible business that are in force today were created after that period. Most environmental legislation and treaties date after the 1950s, for example. International corporate criminal law came into existence in the 1990s. However, many characteristics of the law of responsible business can be traced back to the sixteenth century. Moreover, before the 1500s, rules of trade were embedded in a broad and ethics-imbued worldview. Afterwards, trade came to be considered a realm of negotiations, with high levels of agency for entrepreneurs and merchants. Since that time, corporate responsibility rules were measures corrective to this general paradigm.