There is growing and widespread support for a new law requiring businesses, and the public sector to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence. This includes support from parliamentarians, businesses, investors, civil society organisations and over 145,000 members of the public. To best meet this need, the UK Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC) is calling for a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act (BHREA) – mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation modelled on the successful “failure to prevent” legal mechanism.
Click the link below to read our new policy paper addressing how a new law can be designed in a way that is practical, proportionate, and supportive of responsible business conduct among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on existing UK legal precedents, international standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and examples from EU legislation, it shows how such a law would align with global best practices.
It also addresses key concerns SMEs may have about new due diligence requirements and demonstrates how a BHREA can ultimately benefit SMEs by helping to level the playing field for the those that that face an unfair disadvantage when competing against or doing business with larger companies that are being allowed to benefit from unethical purchasing practices, human rights abuses and environmental devastation.
