Mandatory human rights due diligence laws in Europe: A mirage for rightsholders?

Deva, Surya

doi:10.1017/s0922156522000802

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Unfortunately, many current versions of HRDD do not exhibit such characteristics. 106 This leaves corporations with the ability to continue to commit human rights violations with ease. At the same time, by reflecting the perils of financialization, corporate law facilitates the commission of corporate harms of human rights.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate Law’s Threat to Human Rights: Why Human Rights Due Diligence Might Not Be Enough

Choudhury

2023

Bus. and hum. rights j.

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The take-up of mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) initiatives by states is continuously gaining momentum. There are now numerous states adopting some form of HRDD laws. While corporations being duly diligent in respecting human rights is a positive step towards addressing problems of business and human rights, these HRDD initiatives on their own may only be a form of window-dressing, that is, enabling states to put a smart spin on their efforts to address business and human rights issues without addressing some of the root causes of that predicament. As a result, HRDD laws are likely to be a helpful, but insufficient tool for addressing corporate abuse of human rights. One reason for this is because the root cause of many business and human rights problems is the structural elements and goals of corporate law facilitates corporate violations of human rights. So long as states fail to transform the way in which corporations operate – in part, by reconceptualizing corporate law – even the best drafted HRDD laws will be inadequate to halt corporate harms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate Law’s Threat to Human Rights: Why Human Rights Due Diligence Might Not Be Enough

Choudhury

2023

Bus. and hum. rights j.

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“…The ILO's (2022bILO's ( [1998) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998), which sets out the fundamental labour rights, is one of the instruments referenced by the UNGP. The latter apply to all businesses and have subsequently established the background for a range of initiatives that provide a legal framework for mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD), albeit with reduced material scope and/or reach (Deva, 2023) to prevent, mitigate and provide remedy for adverse human rights impacts (see for example the UK Modern Slavery Act (of 2015), the French Corporate Duty of Vigilance law (of 2017), the Modern Slavery Act in Australia (of 2018), or the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains (of 2021)).…”

Section: Human Rights Due Diligence: Without Worker Participation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Substantial critiques of HRDD, however, have been developed along conceptual, operational and structural lines (Deva, 2023). Three critical points concerning exploitative work practices in global value chains – the process character of HRDD, engagement and consultation, and access to remedy – are briefly discussed in turn.…”

Section: Human Rights Due Diligence: Without Worker Participation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, and most fundamentally, in dealing with processes rather than outcomes, HRDD frameworks recognise the vulnerabilities of specific groups of workers and communities as well as the asymmetries in power, information, resources and bargaining position while not addressing them (Deva, 2023: 17). HRDD frameworks specify a process rather than outcomes.…”

Section: Human Rights Due Diligence: Without Worker Participation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Searching for institutions: upgrading, private compliance, and due diligence in European apparel value chains

Hammer

2023

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

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This article argues that key avenues to improve working conditions – value chain integration, on the one hand, and lead firms’ compliance processes, on the other – have not resulted in improvements in the European apparel industry. Evidence is drawn from economic and social up-/downgrading trajectories in major apparel producing countries as well as a case study on social audits and labour market enforcement in the United Kingdom. Both suggest that institutions to prevent labour exploitation in supply chains have largely been ineffective. Institutional experimentation, which has been hybrid in combining hard and soft law as well as public and private governance elements, underlined the role of lead firms but continued to exclude civil society actors. It is argued that human rights due diligence, at the heart of many institutional experiments, draws on a deficient private compliance model, rather than building in worker-driven elements that could lead towards a better alternative.

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“…18 For instance, the concept of HRDD proposed by the UNGPs may enable companies to create a false narrative of operating in compliance with the human rights norms. 19 Similarly, Landau argues that the institutionalization and/or legalization of the concept of HRDD may not necessarily bring about widespread and significant improvements in corporate behaviour. 20 This is because companies may adopt internal policies and compliance structures to formally abide by HRDD, while failing to lead to genuine and substantial improvements in practice.…”

Section: Beyond Buzzwordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Buzzwords: Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence and a Rights-Based Approach to Business Models

Leite

2023

Bus. and hum. rights j.

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This article argues that the trend to zoom into mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) as the sole solution to corporate abuse is misleading. In fact, it might risk missing entirely the main point which, as set out in this article, should be creating economic systems that enable rights-based and rights-driven business models. A small, but growing number of scholarly articles address the economic, fiscal and regulatory institutions needed to create an enabling environment for the fulfilment of human rights. These policy areas constitute what some of us understand as a ‘rights-based economy’ or ‘rights-enabling economies’. State-level efforts would be much more effective in promoting substantive equality if driven by a rights-based approach rather than a market logic. This article contends that while ensuring comprehensive mHRDD is in place as a preventative and mitigation tool, states must also push for transformative macroeconomic policies based on human rights principles as a way to fundamentally change business models.

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Mandatory human rights due diligence laws in Europe: A mirage for rightsholders?

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

Corporate Law’s Threat to Human Rights: Why Human Rights Due Diligence Might Not Be Enough

Corporate Law’s Threat to Human Rights: Why Human Rights Due Diligence Might Not Be Enough

Searching for institutions: upgrading, private compliance, and due diligence in European apparel value chains

Beyond Buzzwords: Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence and a Rights-Based Approach to Business Models

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