Human rights in global supply chains: Measuring the effectiveness of home state regulatory models on corporate behaviour

Project Team

This is a three-year project starting in February 2024. The project is jointly implemented by BIICL and Westfälische Hochschule.

BIICL

• Dr. Irene Pietropaoli, Senior Fellow in Business and Human Rights (Team Lead)
• Dr. Jasmine Elliott, Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights
• Dr. Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga, Research Leader in Business, ESG & Modern Slavery 

Westfälische Hochschule

• Prof. Andreas Rühmkorf, Professor of German and International Commercial Law (Team Lead)
• Alina Ganser, Scientific Associate

For further information, please contact Dr. Irene Pietropaoli 

Events

Upcoming

8 May 2026 - From Transposition to Transformation: Designing and Enforcing Effective National HREDD Laws  (NOVA School of Law, Lisbon)

Building on last year's workshop, which navigated the immediate regulatory landscape amidst the uncertainty surrounding the CSDDD adoption, this year's event shifts focus to how it must be transposed and implemented to drive meaningful change.

Past

9 December 2025 - Roundtable on Human Rights in Global Supply Chains: Measuring the Effectiveness of Home State Regulatory Models on Corporate Behaviour  (BIICL, London)

At the end of the second year of our project, we presented initial findings from interviews and workshops and invited reflections and feedback from key stakeholders - including policymakers, companies, civil society organisations, and academics - to inform the next phase of the project.

9 December 2025 - Workshop with the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law Business Network (London)

We engaged with the Bingham Centre's Business Network to discuss early findings and insights from our project. We held a discussion-based workshop with UK based companies reflecting on the effectiveness of mandatory human rights due diligence laws.

7 November 2025 - Supply Chain Law Beyond the Omnibus - Future Perspectives and Developments (BSP Business and Law School, Berlin)

Together with the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, the Research Institute for Sustainable Economic Law (RISE) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and BSP Business & Law School Berlin, we hosted a joint conference on current issues in supply chain law. In addition to providing insight into the current status of the Omnibus process and its impact on the CSDDD and the German supply Chain Act (LkSG), the conference addressed topics including the role of artificial intelligence and software solutions in fulfilling due diligence obligations, the effective involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making processes of companies that are in-scope and the influence of sustainable finance on corporate behaviour.

Conference Summary 

17 September 2025 - Workshop with the Swedish Network for Business and Human Rights (Stockholm)

We engaged with Enact's Swedish Network for Business and Human Rights to discuss early findings and insights from our project. We held a discussion-based workshop with 25 Nordic based companies reflecting on the effectiveness of mandatory human rights due diligence laws.

13 December 2024 - Roundtable on Measuring the Effectiveness of Home State Regulatory Models on Corporate Behaviour (BIICL, London)

We explored in this roundtable the different ways that effectiveness can be defined and measured in terms of indicators that can be used to compare the different legal models used in relation to developing binding legal obligations for corporate human rights impacts within global supply chains. We discussed our proposed model of effectiveness in relation to how these laws can be evaluated in terms of compliance with the law, changes in corporate behaviour, and outcomes.

12 December 2024 - Workshop Comparing National Supply Chain Laws for Human Rights  (BIICL, London)

This workshop focused on developing academic contributions for our proposed book 'Comparing national supply chain laws for human rights: From the UN Guiding Principles to corporate practices'. We held four panel discussions with experts in the field relating to different legal models and how to analyse these models comparatively and from different perspectives, including panels on European mandatory human rights due diligence laws, issue specific legal models, comparison of enforcement mechanisms, and a discussion of legal models from financial, social science and Global South perspectives.

16 September 2024 - Expert consultation on developing indicators to measure HREDD laws (Virtual)

We engaged with a small group of NGOs and experts in evaluating and benchmarking companies' human rights performance to obtain feedback on the initial stages of this project, particularly in relation to our conceptual framework and methodology, including areas of practice that we have identified for focus and an early draft of indicators.

Related Publications

Report: Supply chain regulation beyond the omnibus: The importance of digitalisation and stakeholder dialogue for CSDDD and LkSG - Eller/ Friedmann/ Herrmann/ Mittwoch/ Rühmkorf/ Schönfelder/ Vanpeperstraete, KlimaRZ 2026, 3-10  (January 2026)

In the political debate on the regulation of transnational supply chains, the focus has shifted to a more critical view of mandatory legal requirements for companies to take human rights and environmental concerns into account. Greater European restraint with regard to the sustainability transformation of the economy was already announced in the Draghi Report of 9 September 2024. The aim is to close innovation gaps with the US and China and ensure the competitiveness of European companies. Ultimately, the focus is on security and crisis resilience.

Policy Brief: Transposing the CSDDD: Navigating Legal Uncertainties amidst the Omnibus Proposal and Implementation Challenges (July 2025)

A set of policy briefs summarising workshop discussions that NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and the HIVA Research Institute for Work and Society hosted on 28 May 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal. The event brought together 20 policymakers from 9 European countries and over 30 experts from 15 countries across 5 continents representing legal practice, civil society, academia, national human rights institutions, and international organizations such as the UN, the Council of Europe, and the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct. Key themes included lessons learned from the comparative experiences of countries that have already adopted legislative frameworks on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD). Participants explored critical elements that national transposition laws must include to ensure effectiveness and considered strategies to support companies in fulfilling their HREDD obligations.

Final Report: Towards New Human Rights and Environment Due Diligence Laws: Reflections on Changes in Corporate Practice (October 2024)

Our study provides reflections on changes in corporate practice resulting from the implementation of HREDD laws, namely the French Duty of Vigilance Law and German Supply Chain Act, and a comparative analysis of these legal models.

Policy Brief Update: Effectiveness of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation in addressing modern slavery in business value chains  (March 2024)

This is an updated version of the Policy Brief first published in May 2022 which was the second in a series of Policy Briefs to assess the evidence base on the effectiveness of different regulatory interventions to address modern slavery in global supply chains. This Policy Brief assesses the evidence base on the effectiveness of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.

Report: Effectiveness of Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act (February 2021)

This report for the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre considers how effective Section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act is by specifying three levels of effectiveness to assess section 54 systematically, analysing the effectiveness of civil society monitoring, and drawing from other UK regulatory models to explore the possibilities and limits of section 54 enforcement.