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Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation

Comparative national legislation, legal commentaries, and reports on national enforcement are all resources for teaching Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation.

• Readings
  • Primary sources
  • Commentaries
  • Reports
• Links

Readings

Primary Sources

• Loi relative au devoir de vigilance des sociétés mères et des entreprises donneuses d’ordre, official text in French, available at http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/ta/ta0924.asp.

• French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, unofficial English translation by European Coalition for Corporate Justice, available at http://corporatejustice.org/documents/publications/ngo-translation-french-corporate-duty-of-vigilance-law.pdf.

• Initiative populaire fédérale ‘Entreprises responsables – pour protéger l’être humain et l’environnement’ official text in French, German, and Italian, available at www.bk.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/vi/vis462t.html.

• Swiss Responsible Business Initiative, unofficial English translation by Swiss Coalition for Corporate Justice, available at https://corporatejustice.ch/about-the-initiative/.

• Dutch Child Labour Due Diligence Law, official text in Dutch, available at https://www.eerstekamer.nl/behandeling/20170207/gewijzigd_voorstel_van_wet/document3/f=/vkbkk8pud2zt.pdf .

Commentaries

• Stéphane Brabant and Elsa Savourey, France’s Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, A Closer Look at the Penalties Faced by Companies, Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires, 14 December 2017.

Discusses conditions under which a company may be held civilly liable under the French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law.

• Stéphane Brabant, Charlotte Michon and Elsa Savourey, The Vigilance Plan: Cornerstone of the Law on the Corporate Duty of Vigilance, Revue internationale de la compliance et de l’éthique des affaires, 14 December 2017, Article no 93.

Overview of the steps that companies are required to take within their obligations to establish, communicate and effectively implement a vigilance plan under the French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law.

• Nicolas Bueno, The Swiss Popular Initiative on Responsible Business: From Responsibility to Liability, in Liesbeth Enneking (ed.), Corporate Responsibility, Human Rights and the Law (Routledge 2020).

Presents the political and legal background of the Swiss Popular Initiative on Responsible Business, comparing it to other mandatory due diligence mechanisms and in particular the French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law.

• Nicolas Bueno, Multinational Enterprises and Labour Rights: Concepts and Implementation, in J. Bellace and B. ter Haar (eds.) Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law (Edward Elgar 2019), 421-438, available at https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786433114.00037.

Definines the concept of ‘labour rights due diligence’ and compares mandatory due diligence legislation with a focus on labor rights.

• Sandra Cossart, Jérôme Chaplier, and Tiphaine Beau de Lomenie, The French Law on Duty of Care: A Historic Step Towards Making Globalization Work for All, Business and Human Rights Journal (Vol. 2, 2017) 317.

Overview of the scope and content of the French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, including requirements for how to establish a vigilance plan and conditions of legal liability for companies subject to the law.

Reports

• European Parliament, Access to legal remedies for victims of corporate human rights abuses in third countries, February 2019, available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2019/603475/EXPO_STU(2019)603475_EN.pdf.

Overview of legal and procedural hurdles for accessing legal remedies for victims of corporate human rights abuses. Comparison of mandatory due diligence legislation in different countries and their role in improving access to legal remedies.

• Center for Human Rights Studies, Access to Remedy: Study commissioned by the Swiss government, September 2017, available at https://www.menschenrechte.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:3367e6f4-4f05-4e2e-8545-fbb327c9ac3f/180919_Access_to_Remedy.pdf.

Overview of legal and procedural hurdles for accessing legal remedies for victims of corporate human rights abuses. Comparison of mandatory due diligence legislation in different countries and their role in improving access to legal remedies.

Links

• Business and Human Rights Resource Center, Mandatory Due Diligence Portal.

• Business and Human Rights Resource Center, National Movements for Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence in European Countries.

Charts initiatives for mandatory human rights due diligence in Europe.

• Business and Human Rights in Law, Key Developments Map

This map shows legislative measures, judicial proceedings, authoritative guidance, institutional recommendations, reports, and policy statements which aim to embed companies’ responsibility to respect human rights across their global operations into law. 

[*] Cette note pédagogique peut-être citée comme suit :

Nicolas Bueno, “Teaching Resources:  Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation” in Teaching Business and Human Rights Handbook (Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum, 2019), https://teachbhr.org/resources/teaching-bhr-handbook/mandatory-human-rights-due-diligence/teaching-resources/.