Research On Mandatory Human Rights And Environmental Due Diligence Legislation In The Context Of Corporate Law Revision

China has an obligation to domesticate the concept of human rights and environmental due diligence as set out in the UNGPs and further developed in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.In recent years,China has introduced a series of policies and measures to address corporate human rights and environmental abuses.However,these policies and measures are not legally enforceable and some of them are narrow in scope only for specific industries,resulting in Chinese enterprises facing complex human rights and environmental risks in the process of domestic and foreign investment,and unable to cope with the due diligence requirements imposed on Chinese enterprises by foreign mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.Based on the current policies and practices of human rights and environmental due diligence in China,this thesis attempts to analyze the comprehensive and typical international mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation and propose some ideas on how to realize human rights and environmental due diligence obligations in China under the framework of the Corporate Law.First,this thesis introduces the emergence of the concept of corporate human rights and environmental due diligence and its practice in China.This section first explains the emergence of the concept of human rights and environmental due diligence and the trend of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.Then,the Chinese policy and practice of human rights and environmental due diligence are reviewed.In terms of China’s current practice,China has mainly adopted a policy-oriented implementation model,incorporating human rights and environmental due diligence into the Outline for the Implementation of the Rule of Law Society,the Report of the 20 th Party Congress,the National Human Rights Action Plan,national and industry standards for social responsibility,and investment policies.Second,this paper examines the international development of corporate human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.It can be found that comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation is now commonly adopted by countries to transform human rights and environmental due diligence obligations.France,Germany and the European Union are the most typical and authoritative models of comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.By analyzing their legislative background,scope of application and protection,subject matter,and impact and evaluation,I have identified the strengths of these laws and some of their current shortcomings.Again,it is to explain the rationality and necessity of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation in China.The reasonableness lies in the fact that human rights and environmental due diligence is a necessary requirement to comply with the constitutional principle of respecting and safeguarding human rights in China,human rights and environmental due diligence is a necessary part of corporate social responsibility,and the transformation of human rights and environmental due diligence is an inherent requirement to implement the UNGPs.It is necessary to improve the level of human rights and environmental protection of Chinese enterprises,to avoid the risks of overseas trade of Chinese enterprises,to improve our regulatory shortcomings to close the governance gap,and to meet the challenges of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation in other countries.Next,this thesis provides some ideas on the institutional realization of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations in China under the framework of the Corporate Law.We can incorporate the mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence obligations based on the CSR provisions in the Corporate Law.First,we will improve the sustainable connotation of CSR provisions in the General Provisions of the Corporate Law,then we will incorporate specific types of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations into the regulation of corporate organization,and finally we will incorporate human rights and environmental due diligence obligations into the diligence obligations of directors.Finally,there is the design of a procedural safeguard mechanism for the realization of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations under the framework of the Corporate Law.It is far from sufficient to have only substantive content;it is essential to have a comprehensive and effective procedural safeguard mechanism for the realization of substantive obligations.The use of civil liability,administrative oversight,and reputational impact as complementary modes of enforcement with different advantages is a reasonable procedural enforcement mechanism to ensure that companies meet their human rights and environmental due diligence obligations.