This paper addresses the extraterritorial dimension of transnational corporations, focusing on the corporate accountability-deficit that characterizes the current International legal framework. The analysis looks at parent companies’ civil liability for environmental harm caused abroad. By introducing a selected number of foreign direct liability cases brought before European national courts, the paper investigates whether the binding environmental and human rights reporting obligations contained in Directive 2014/95/EU contribute to the determination of a parent company’s duty of care towards its overseas subsidiaries, and consequently establish their potential liability.
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Through a qualitative examination, the moral evaluations of Dutch care professionals regarding healthcare robots for eldercare in terms of biomedical ethical principles and non-utility are researched. Results showed that care professionals primarily focused on maleficence (potential harm done by the robot), deriving from diminishing human contact. Worries about potential maleficence were more pronounced from intermediate compared to higher educated professionals. However, both groups deemed companion robots more beneficiary than devices that monitor and assist, which were deemed potentially harmful physically and psychologically. The perceived utility was not related to the professionals' moral stances, countering prevailing views. Increasing patient's autonomy by applying robot care was not part of the discussion and justice as a moral evaluation was rarely mentioned. Awareness of the care professionals' point of view is important for policymakers, educational institutes, and for developers of healthcare robots to tailor designs to the wants of older adults along with the needs of the much-undervalued eldercare professionals.
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