Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Maastricht Principles define the scope and nature of State responsibilities regarding human rights beyond their own borders, emphasizing that economic globalization requires States to ensure their acts and omissions do not impair the rights of people worldwide. It outlines specific obligations to avoid direct and indirect interference, regulate non-State actors like corporations, and cooperate internationally to create an enabling environment for the universal realization of economic, social and cultural rights, while providing frameworks for accountability and remedy.

• Extraterritorial obligations are defined as those relating to a State's acts or omissions, whether within or beyond its territory, that affect human rights outside its borders, as well as global obligations to act jointly through international cooperation to realize human rights universally.
• A State's jurisdiction for these obligations extends to situations where it exercises authority or effective control, where its actions have foreseeable effects on rights, or where it can exercise decisive influence to realize rights extraterritorially.
• States have a specific obligation to protect rights by regulating non-State actors, including transnational corporations, particularly when the harm originates in the State's territory, the actor has the State's nationality, or the corporation is registered or domiciled there.
• Regarding the obligation to respect rights, States must avoid direct interference and indirect interference, such as coercing another State to breach its obligations. They must also refrain from economic sanctions or embargoes that impair essential goods and services.
• To fulfil rights extraterritorially, States must create an international enabling environment through the review of multilateral and bilateral agreements concerning trade, investment, taxation, finance, and environmental protection.
• States are required to conduct public impact assessments of their laws and policies to prevent extraterritorial violations and must ensure effective remedies, including judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, for victims regardless of where the harm occurred.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2011). Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Maastricht_ETO_Principles_21Oct11.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 2011. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Maastricht_ETO_Principles_21Oct11.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |date=28 September 2011 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Maastricht_ETO_Principles_21Oct11.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2011maastricht, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2011}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Maastricht_ETO_Principles_21Oct11.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }