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Is profit a human right?
by Scott Gilbreath ~ January 28th, 2009
Political “progressives” may want to re-think their beloved post-modern notion of “human rights”. Several British companies are invoking human rights to claim they were unfairly deprived of profits and competitive advantage.
I may have said that the precious quality at the heart of human rights principles is that they apply equally to everyone. But when I said “everyone”, I might not have meant it.
Hedge funds for example, which are “legal persons” in the sense that as incorporated companies they have a legal personality, are apparently amongst the growing number of corporate victims of human rights violations. Last week two hedge funds – RAB Special Situations and SRM Global Master Fund – claimed that the nationalisation of Northern Rock amounted to a violation of their right to “peaceful enjoyment of possessions” set out in the first protocol to the European convention on human rights. Meanwhile, BAA is reported to be considering a claim against the competition commission on the basis that its decision to break up the airport company was a violation of its rights under the convention.
If this gambit succeeds in bringing monetary benefit to the firms involved, watch for an explosion of similar claims as the economy continues downhill.
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January 28th, 2009 at 09:40 PM
[...] COMPANIES ARE PEOPLE, TOO– “Political “progressives” may want to re-think their beloved post-modern notion of [...]