On both sides of the Atlantic we are supposed to have human rights, granted in the USA in the Bill of Rights, and in Europe in the form of the European Convention on Human Rights - now incorporated into British law under the Human Rights Act. Neither documents mention that these rights extend to corporations, but now they do.

The first corporations were given their charters to serve the public interest. The nature of the business they were permitted to carry out was closely defined. The privilege of limited liability was granted in order to attract sufficient investment to allow such purposes to be carried out.

However corporate law developed very rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic to a point where, maximising profit is the overriding duty of directors; limited liability companies are not responsible for the debts of their limited liability subsidiaries; there is no check on what business companies operate in; and it is argued that directors have a duty to flout regulations unless the penalties for so doing outweigh the extra profits. Company law has in effect created pschycopaths. Human pschycopaths are liable to lose their liberty. Why should corporate pschycopaths enjoy human rights?

In fact corporations in the USA won human rights soon after the civil war, when the Southern Pacific railroad was the first to exploit the 14th amendment to the constitution, which was designed to prevent discrimination against former slaves. The railroad was seeking to avoid paying taxes to Santa Clara county. The supreme court found in favour of the railroad without hearing any argument about whether it was entitled to the same rights as human beings. This doctrine has frustrated attempts to limit election campaign donations from corporations and has spread across the Atlantic.