A/HRC/30/44 52. Pursuant to article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, States shall ensure “a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration can be fully realized”. This is reinforced in article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 53. The adoption of 10 core international human rights treaties and countless resolutions and declarations of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Human Rights Council, pertinent ILO and WHO Conventions, the emergence of a system of regional human rights courts capable of adopting binding judgments, the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Millennium Development Goals – all these instruments over a period of many decades prove that a customary international law of human rights has emerged, manifesting opinio juris and international consensus on the primacy of human rights. Accordingly, globalization and targeted investment ought to foster an environment where human rights are fully realized through the State’s regulatory functions. Alas, international investment agreements are usurping State functions as if the only rights were the rights to trade and to invest. 54. In the field of intellectual property, there is consensus that it deserves protection which must occur, however, in tandem with human rights considerations. Twenty-first century humanity functions on the basis of thousands of years of freedom of knowledge, or the free interchange of ideas and inventions. While there is justice in rewarding research and patenting new pharmaceuticals and inventions, monopolies must not contribute to greater inequality and Governments should regulate to ensure flexibility and prevent “evergreening” practices. Access to affordable medicine is essential to protect the right to life, and refusal to provide such affordable medicine is tantamount to the criminal offence of denial of humanitarian aid60 or assistance to persons in danger. In other words, knowledge cannot be appropriated for profit, privatized or commoditized, but rather shared in international solidarity. Sharing knowledge without fee, as the European Organization for Nuclear Research shared the World Wide Web, is in the best traditions of civilization. 55. Globalization cannot be allowed to become the grand global casino where investors rig the system to guarantee that they always win. A democratic and equitable international order is not possible if this “Hotel Brave New World” is allowed to ensnare States, letting them check in but never leave. Since the siren call of foreign direct investment has proven deceptive, Governments must move away from easy mythologies and demand empirical evidence of job creation and reject a “race to the bottom” in human rights terms. With good will, States can adjust international investment agreements for their benefit. 56. Transnational enterprises operate in the territory of States that are bound to the Charter of the United Nations, akin to a world constitution, whose Purposes and Principles are paramount for the achievement of a democratic and equitable international order. Transnationals cannot create a new legal order beyond the Charter of the United Nations, nor be legibus solutus or exempt from the rule of law, general principles of law and basic codes of conduct. Transnationals do not exist in a vacuum and are bound by the international human rights regime. Even their most cherished impact on today’s societies — creating jobs — is only possible thanks to laws that ensure the orderly functioning of market transactions, the clear assignment of property rights and reliance on effective courts. They operate in the context of accountability and checks and balances that took centuries to develop and cannot be waived. Wherever transnational corporations are registered or carry out operations, the home and host States have the responsibility to regulate them to prevent violations of human rights. 60 18 www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jq32.htm.