The problem of the different ways transnational corporations (TNCs) are held responsible for their violations of human rights standards has its own, long history. All the academic and legal efforts to date that have sought to clarify the proper grounds for effective remedies for wrongs that have been committed, have however failed to overcome the substantive obstacles and objections. Against such a complicated background the Authors present some reflections regarding the question of whether there is any possibility to take a step forward. Bearing in mind the powerful position of the TNCs, the Authors try to argue that – to some extent – mechanisms connected to State obligations in the field of human rights could be effective, if properly used, in relation to this type of corporate entity. Moreover, the absence of legally binding international rules (i.e. hard law) in the field under discussion is undoubtedly a missing factor for success. The article concludes that as long as the obligations and responsibilities of TNCs are not covered by legally binding and effectively enforced international rules, it will be impossible to cut this “Gordian knot”.

跨国公司 ( TNC ) 对其违反人权标准的行为以不同方式追究责任的问题有其自身的悠久历史。迄今为止，所有学术和法律努力都试图澄清对所犯错误进行有效补救的适当理由，但未能克服实质性障碍和反对意见。在如此复杂的背景下，作者对是否有可能向前迈进的问题提出了一些思考。牢记TNC的强大地位s，作者试图争辩说，在某种程度上，与人权领域的国家义务相关的机制如果使用得当，对于此类公司实体可能是有效的。此外，在所讨论的领域中缺乏具有法律约束力的国际规则（即硬法）无疑是成功的一个缺失因素。文章的结论是，只要跨国公司的义务和责任不被具有法律约束力和有效执行的国际规则所涵盖，就不可能解开这个“难解之结”。