Controlling the Rich and Powerful: The Role of Human Rights Norms in Mining

After a long history of worldwide negative experiences in the process of resource extraction, one of the important challenges that remains is the (un-)ethical behaviour of the rich and powerful actors. The issue of power and its malicious use prevails in the basis of the problem. This paper considers the issue of ethics in contemporary mining operations and its direct impact on the respect and abuse of human rights. Although the last decades have experienced the rise of hard and soft law regulating mining operations, practice shows that there are still cases of abuse of basic human rights, especially by multinational companies. This research aims to: (1) emphasise that, despite the development of democracy, legal provisions and other instruments of control, the negative legacy of mining impacts on populations and environment still occurs around the globe, especially in developing countries; (2) be a reminder of the most important instruments that can support ethical behaviour during mining operations; and (3) propose future steps for a more successful mitigation of negative effects.