Editorial – Business and human rights in global value chains

AbstractThe corporate responsibility to respect human rights was formally introduced in 2011 with the unanimous endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) by the UN Human Rights Council. It is grounded in social expectations and forms part of the companies' “social license to operate.” This paper argues that this responsibility is progressively turning into a legal duty for lead companies to respect human rights in those types of value chains which are characterized by a high level of control by a lead company over its business partners. Our argument rests on two recent legal developments. Firstly, the article analyzes the judicialization of the corporate responsibility to respect in the case law on parent company liability in various jurisdictions, which, we argue, is highly likely to have some implications in relation to certain types of value chains so as to trigger the liability of lead companies for the human rights harms arising out of the activities of entities over which they exercise sufficient control. Secondly, the article delves into the legislative developments which increasingly require lead companies to exercise due diligence so as to prevent and address adverse human rights impacts in their own activities and global value chains.

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The Governance of Global Value Chains: Unresolved Human Rights, Environmental and Ethical Dilemmas in the Apple Supply Chain

Journal of Business Ethics ◽

10.1007/s10551-015-2781-3 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 143 (1) ◽

pp. 111-131 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Thomas Clarke ◽

Martijn Boersma

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Supply Chain ◽

Ethical Dilemmas ◽

Global Value Chains ◽

Value Chains

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Breaching the Interpretative Wall between Private and Public Commercial Contracts

European Review of Contract Law ◽

10.1515/ercl-2020-0028 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 511-532

Author(s):

Maria Edith Lindholm Gausdal

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Case Law ◽

Global Value Chains ◽

Value Chains ◽

The Public ◽

Private And Public ◽

Business To Business ◽

Public Contract ◽

Actual Fusion

AbstractFrom a purely contractual perspective, this article reflects upon labour standard clauses with the objective to ensure that the fundamental ILO conventions and the International Bill of Human Rights are complied with throughout global value chains in respectively business-to-business (private), and public commercial contracts. The clauses are in both settings based widely on the same standards; however scholarship on the two types of contracts has been quite separate. The article reviews some Scandinavian case law concerning labour standard clauses and procurement regulation. It finds that contractual argumentation supported the outcome in these cases, isolates this argumentation, and reflects on whether contractual perspectives on the public contract might inspire current research on private contracts. It finally argues that an actual fusion is already taking place, wherefore contract lawyers may play an important role as to whether ‘the interpretative wall’ should be breached, or whether this is not feasible due to the distinctive characteristics of each contract.

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Toward a Corporate Duty for Lead Companies To Respect Human Rights in Their Global Value Chains?

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3725038 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Claire Bright ◽

Axel Marx ◽

Nina Pineau ◽

Jan Wouters

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Global Value Chains ◽

Value Chains

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Corporate transparency laws

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights ◽

10.1177/0924051918786623 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 189-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Radu Mares

Keyword(s):

Corporate Governance ◽

Human Rights ◽

Corporate Sustainability ◽

Global Value Chains ◽

Value Chains ◽

Regulatory Regime ◽

Corporate Transparency ◽

Conflict Minerals ◽

Reporting Laws

The article examines reporting laws to determine if and how these laws shape corporate conduct and protect human rights. Since 2010 a wave of laws with extraterritorial effects has appeared as home states of multinationals began to mandate social disclosures. However, opinions as to their importance differ and some wonder whether these transparency laws are ‘a hollow victory’. What is the evidence regarding the effectiveness of these laws? If they work, what are the exact pathways for change? The laws selected for analysis cover corporate sustainability, slavery, conflict minerals, revenue transparency, and corporate governance. To assess the impacts and potential of these laws, the article distinguishes between dynamics that are internal and external to the corporation, and between direct and more remote effects. Drawing on the evidence surrounding these transparency laws, their place in the regulatory regime for global value chains as well as the functions this regulatory method fulfils in relation to human rights are discussed.

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