From soft law to hard law : the concept and regulation of human rights due diligence in the EU legal context

Abstract

This dissertation examines the concept of human rights due diligence (HRDD) under international soft law and its transposition into business regulation, with a particular focus on the European Union context. It traces the evolution of HRDD – starting from the work of the United Nations to the recent contributions of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The inquiry finds that HRDD is a concept of remarkable depth, whose features make it suitable to address human rights abuse in the globalised economy. Yet, there are also a number of practical and conceptual concerns. For instance, it is argued that the concept of HRDD features a high level of abstraction, which leads to ambiguities at the stage of implementation. In view of these findings, the transposition of HRDD into business law provides an opportunity, not only to build on the strengths of the concept, but also to counter some of its weaknesses. In addition, the thesis addresses two questions of international law concerning, first, the legality of HRDD legislation in view of its extraterritorial implications and, second, the relationship between relevant legal acts and the duties of states under international human rights law. It is held that regulators enjoy considerable leeway under international law to facilitate or require HRDD even beyond their own borders. Yet, states are presently under no international obligation to regulate HRDD processes – even though new developments are in sight. Finally, drawing on the findings of this research, the dissertation reviews Directive 2014/95/EU and Regulation (EU) 2017/821 as two precedents of HRDD legislation in the European Union. The two legal acts pursue very different strategies to promote HRDD processes with, it is argued, a varying degree of success. Through these assessments, the thesis provides a set of recommendations that may inform the transposition of the concept into business law.