Research on International Legal Competition Under the “Business and Human Rights” Discourse: Taking the French Duty of Vigilance Law as an Object of Analysis

The international protection of human rights under the “Business and Human Rights” discourse has become a new issue in the governance of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the context of economic globalization. To urge MNCs to fully fulfill their human rights protection obligations during their global operations, and in the context of the slow progress in formulating a treaty on business and human rights at the UN level, Western developed countries, represented by the European Union, have successively introduced their own human rights due diligence legislation. Among these, the human rights due diligence legislation, represented by the French Duty of Vigilance Law (Loi de Vigilance), breaks away from the previous governance model, which was primarily characterized by “policy-based” and “soft law” approaches in the field of business and human rights protection. It imposes legal obligations of human rights due diligence on companies at the legislative level, covering specific companies and particular human rights issues, and possesses extraterritorial application. This has resulted in international legal competition concerning the scope of application for human rights infringement and human rights protection standards under the “Business and Human Rights” discourse. Various countries are attempting to gain an advantage in the discourse power during subsequent international discussions on business and human rights protection through the application of their initial domestic legislation. This paper intends to analyze the main arenas where this international legal competition occurs by interpreting the text of the Duty of Vigilance Law, and to propose suggestions for China's next steps in human rights due diligence legislation.