Saving humankind with domestic mandatory human rights due diligence laws : a third world approach to international law

The process of holding transnational corporations (TNCs) accountable for human rights abuses has witnessed longstanding struggles between the Global North and South. Mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) laws are by far the latest legislative endeavors to regulate the human rights practices of TNCs through domestic laws. Currently, major mHRDD laws have emerged within Europe. Through networked global value chains, these laws have profound impacts on nations, populations, and suppliers in the Global South. However, we lack an adequate understanding of the consequences and implications of such laws from their perspectives. This article examines major mHRDD laws from a Third World Approach to International Law (TWAIL) perspective. It identifies three key features of mHRDD laws and explores how each feature may result in unintended oppression in the Global South. It finds that although the initial purpose of mHRDD legislation is to humanize global value chains, such legislation may entrench existing power imbalances between trade partners from Global North and South. Due to the affected stakeholders in the Third World being excluded from the legislative process of mHRDD laws, the protection of the existing laws is limited in that they can only be exercised in alignment with the legislative state’s domestic political and economic interests. This article proposes that mHRDD laws must be reformed to engage with a broader range of stakeholders and suggests the necessity of a business and human rights treaty. © Zhuolun Li and Yu Xiang, 2024