We introduce this symposium of articles by explaining the notions of hard and soft law, and reviewing UN developments on business and human rights in this light. We move to a more detailed discussion of existing hard law, particularly the state duty to protect, before examining examples of fulfilment of that duty via the domestication (especially the judicialization) of human rights norms for business. We also note the many pitfalls in contemporary approaches, before examining how the proposed legally binding instrument might address those pitfalls. We conclude with commentary on how soft and hard norms to date have failed to grapple with corporate power, the issue which animates the need for a business human rights debate in the first place, before introducing the articles to follow.

我们通过解释硬法和软法的概念，并从这个角度回顾联合国在商业和人权方面的发展来介绍本次专题讨论会。在考察通过商业人权规范的国内化（特别是司法化）来履行该义务的例子之前，我们将更详细地讨论现有的硬法，特别是国家的保护义务。在研究拟议的具有法律约束力的文书如何解决这些陷阱之前，我们还注意到当代方法中的许多陷阱。在介绍后续文章之前，我们最后评论了迄今为止的软硬规范如何未能解决企业权力问题，这个问题首先激发了企业人权辩论的必要性。