Domestic Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Laws as Global Business and Human Rights Regulation

The last decade has witnessed a paradigm shift in business and human rights (BHR) from soft law to hard law. Although the Global South has pushed for an international treaty, legislators in Europe turned their focus from international law to domestic mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) laws with extraterritorial implications, enforcing localized human rights standards globally. This Article examines the impact of mHRDD legislation as global BHR regulation from a Third World Approaches to International Law perspective. The Article makes three contributions. First, it argues that the current divide between the Global North and South continues a historical struggle over setting international rules on multinationals. Second, it illustrates how Eurocentric mHRDD laws could become de facto global BHR regulation and perpetuate historical inequalities. Third, it examines the ramifications of mHRDD laws on the ongoing BHR treaty process, advocating the latter as a more equitable and effective solution.