The concept of human rights protection and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

David Karp argues that there are three different conceptions of human rights protection that one can identify in contemporary human rights practice. The first is grounded in the respect–protect–fulfill doctrinal trichotomy, and the second is grounded in the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) policy framework. A third conception is potentially available in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (also known as the ‘Ruggie Principles’), depending on how one interprets that recent initiative. An adequate concept of the responsibility to protect human rights views it as a fundamental, primary, and prospective duty, which may in principle be borne by states or non-state actors. It involves the systematic protection of secure access to human rights, irrespective of the intentions or inclinations of third parties to cause harm. The responsibility to protect human rights is separate and separable from the R2P.