By Claire Bright
Abstract:
In recent years, the field of business and human rights has witnessed a shift from soft law to hard law, which has been taking place as a number of states have been intensifying their efforts to comply with their duty to protect human rights. Some states have adopted legislation on human rights reporting such as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, whilst other states have favoured the adoption of legislation on mandatory human rights due diligence to govern corporate behaviour both within their territories and abroad. This is the case of the French legislation on the Duty of Vigilance of Parent and Subcontracting Companies, which also provides for a civil liability regime in case of harm. This paper will explore the limitations of these fragmented domestic approaches and argue that there is a pressing need to create a legislative level playing field at the European level. It will investigate the strengths and weaknesses of the French Law on the Duty of Vigilance a year after its adoption to determine whether it could provide the right basis for it.
Published in:
2020
Online available at:
papers.ssrn.com