UN Human Rights “Issues Paper” on legislative proposals for mandatory human rights due diligence by companies
A number of governments have recently either introduced, or have announced their intention to consider the introduction of, legislative regimes to encourage or require companies and corporate groups to carry out mandatory human rights due diligence... The fragility of global supply chains exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the extreme vulnerability of many of the people working in them, could increase demands (from trade unions and civil society organisations in particular) for legislation of this kind...
OHCHR welcomes these developments. Mandatory human rights due diligence regimes have apotentially vital role to play as part of a “smart mix” of measures to effectively foster business respect for human rights, as called for in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (‘UNGPs’). These regimes are also likely to be a key component of global efforts to Build Back Better, in causing companies to embed proper human rights risk management processes right across their operations, and in ensuring that their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its economic consequences, are evaluated through the lens of the “corporate responsibility to respect human rights”...
This paper aims to contribute to the present conversation about mandatory human rights due diligence regimes by unpacking some of the main choices that policy-makers and legislators will be confronted with in the course of forthcoming consultations and discussions, both at the domestic level and internationally, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.