The concept of mandatory corporate human rights due diligence is gaining momentum, both within Europe and on the international stage. Once in force, probably at the beginning of 2022, these provisions will reflect the new corporate human rights due diligence legislation for the years to come in Switzerland. Commissioner Reynders indicated that the Commission will also consider the need to include provisions allowing victims of corporate abuse to obtain remedies. The Committee was tasked with assessing whether Norwegian businesses should be required to disclose information on responsible business conduct and supply chain management. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, there has been a firming global commitment on labor regulations and anti-slavery compliance. Conflict Minerals Rule, the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation and the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulation anti-trafficking provisions – apply to a relatively small number of companies and/or a narrow set of issues. And most recently, it is the UK’s Modern Slavery Act (MSA) 2015 which has gained renewed attention again for lagging behind in imposing concrete obligations of mandatory human rights due diligence. The trend has gained particular momentum in Europe, with the 2017 enactment of the French Duty of Vigilance Law, and multiple similar proposals under negotiation in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, and at the European Union level. Human rights and environmental due diligence is a key instrument for companies in all sectors to manage their impacts and is increasingly becoming a legally mandated requirement in a number of European countries. The UK in 2015 passed the Modern Slavery Act, with the Netherlands following in 2017 with child labour due diligence laws. And most recently, it is the UK’s Modern Slavery Act (MSA) 2015 which has gained renewed attention again for lagging behind in imposing concrete obligations of mandatory human rights due diligence. These range from the implementation of laws which have already been introduced, such as the French Duty of Vigilance Law Footnote 1 and the Dutch Child Labour Due Diligence law, Footnote 2 to legislative proposals at various stages of … A company’s due diligence obligations under the Supply Chain Law involve the analysis of human rights-related risks, the taking of measures to prevent and mitigate human rights violations and the establishment of complaint mechanisms. Some of the key articles of the draft Directive are summarised below. UK domestic law on human rights due diligence is enshrined in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the MSA ), which brings the UK to the forefront of tackling modern slavery and human trafficking activities in Europe and beyond. The German government has adopted a draft human rights due diligence law, the so- called Supply Chain Act (Lieferkettengesetz), aimed at ensuring companies’ compliance with human rights with respect to their business activities throughout their global supply chains. By way of overview, it is notable that the draft Directive (including the recitals) draws heavily on the UNGPs and that the draft Directive is intended to cover not just The concept of human rights due diligence is understood here as being in line with the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) (UNHRC 2011a, UNHRC 2011b), which described it as a process aimed at operationalising corporate responsibility to respect human rights. Recommended Human Rights Due Diligence The updated advisory urges businesses and individual to undertake heightened due diligence to ensure compliance with U.S. law and to identify potential supply chain or other exposure to companies operating in Xinjiang, linked to Xinjiang, or utilizing Uyghur and other Muslim minority laborers from Xinjiang. We explore what shape that legislation might take, along with parallel developments in Switzerland with the Responsible Business Initiative. Voluntary standards to implement human rights due diligence have been in place for over a decade, when governments adopted expectations for all companies to identify and address human rights impacts through the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The European Commission has committed to tabling an EU-wide human rights due diligence law by June 2021. refers to the company’s obligation to take all proportionate and commensurate measures and make efforts within their means to prevent adverse impacts on human rights and the environment from occurring in their value chain and to address such impacts when they occur. Human Rights Due Diligence Trends 2021. On 29 April 2020, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, announced that the European Commission will develop legislation that would require EU companies to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence. 2 (1)–(4) Due Diligence Act): Prohibition of forced labor and slavery, These proposals and laws vary from reporting obligations on due diligence, like the UK Modern Slavery Act, to more complete due diligence obli-gations, such as the EU Timber Regulation, and to full hu-man rights and environmental due diligence requirements, such as the French Vigilance Law3. The year ahead awaits a defining period in the future of the global legal framework for human rights and business. June 11, 2021: German parliament passed mandatory human rights due to diligence law. human rights due diligence, to prevent human rights harms. With Luxembourg running for a two-year seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council--which will be voted in October next year--the Luxembourg due diligence initiative said it was high time to propose legislation and lead by example. New human rights due diligence legislation and practices should result in positive human rights outcomes for all rightsholders. We present our recommendations on how this legislation can be as effective as possible. The Ethics Information Committee was established by the Norwegian government during June 2018 in response to two petition resolutions by the Parliament. The human rights due diligence obligation . The UK in 2015 passed the Modern Slavery Act, with the Netherlands following in 2017 with child labour due diligence laws. Earlier this year we reported on a European Commission proposal to introduce mandatory human rights due diligence legislation for the EU. Online fashion giant ASOS has called for the implementation of mandatory human rights due diligence legislation in the UK in order to strengthen the 2015 Modern Slavery Act. At the end of April, based on a study presented in early 2020, and following more than ten years of advocacy from NGOs and unions, the European Commission announced that it would make a proposal for binding EU legislation on due diligence in supply chains to ensure human rights and environmental standards are complied with for all products sold on the EU market. The due diligence provisions of the MSA, however, are not mandatory. The European Parliament (EP) has repeatedly underlined the need for stronger European requirements for companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental harm and to provide access to remedies for victims. The trend is clear: human rights oversight is shifting from soft law to hard law. The new legislation is based on the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights which have provided a voluntary set of standards for human rights due diligence since 2011. The new Dutch Law is part of a wider legislative trend, as various countries have passed or are contemplating new legislation imposing human rights reporting requirements on companies (such as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015) or mandatory human rights due diligence (such as the French Duty of Vigilance Act 2017). The Dutch Due Diligence Act “only” covers human rights violations but not environmental harm of companies’ supply chains. 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