Business and Human Rights in Law

The project explains and analyses international, European and Swiss legal developments regarding responsible business conduct. Based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, several States, including Switzerland, have adopted due diligence laws expecting large companies to conduct human rights, labour rights, and environmental due diligence in the global value chains.

Journal Articles (Peer-Reviewed)

The Supermarket Banana Cases: How the German Human Rights Due Diligence in Supply Chain Act Applies in Practice, Nicolas Bueno, International Labour Rights Case Law, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2026, pp. 243-248, doi: 10.1163/24056901-12020017
La responsabilité des entreprises dans les conflits armés : diligence renforcée et responsabilité légale accrue, Nicolas Bueno, Revue de droit suisse, Vol. 144, No. II, 2025
The EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD): The Final Political Compromise, Nicolas Bueno, Nadia Bernaz, Gabrielle Holly, and Olga Martin-Ortega, Business and Human Rights Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2024, pp. 294-300, doi: 10.1017/bhj.2024.10 (Open Access)
Investor Human Rights and Environmental Obligations: The Need to Redesign Corporate Social Responsibility Clauses, Nicolas Bueno, Anil Yilmaz Vastardis, and Isidore Ngueuleu Djeuga, Journal of World Investment & Trade, 2023, pp. 1–38, doi: 10.1163/22119000-12340278 (Open Access)
The Swiss Due Diligence Legislation: Between Law and Politics, Nicolas Bueno and Christine Kaufmann, Business and Human Rights Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2021, pp. 542-549, doi: 10.1017/bhj.2021.42 (Open Access)
Implementing Human Rights Due Diligence through Corporate Civil Liability, Nicolas Bueno and Claire Bright, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 4, 2020, pp. 789-818, doi: 10.1017/S0020589320000305

Book Chapters & Encyclopedia Entries

Corporate Human Rights Due Diligence, Nicolas Bueno, in Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer and Thomas Cottier, eds.), Edward Elgar, 2026
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Nicolas Bueno and Christine Kaufmann, in Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Binder and Nowak, eds.), Edward Elgar, 2022, pp. 375-383
Enforcing Workers’ Rights against State and Corporate Actors in International Law, Nicolas Bueno and Ingrid Landau, in Research Handbook on International Law and Social Rights (2nd ed., Binder C, Hofbauer J, Piovesan F, Úbeda de Torres A, eds.), Edward Elgar, Forthcoming
Das nachhaltige Unternehmen nach Schweizer Recht: Transparenzpflichten, Sorgfaltspflichten und Nachhaltigkeit, Nicolas Bueno, in Nachhaltige Entwicklung im Schweizer Recht (Charlotte Sieber-Gasser, Elisabeth Bürgi Bonanomi, Rika Koch, eds.), Staempfli, 2025, pp. 281-295
Civil liability in the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: A 'Brussels Effect' on International Investment Law?, Nicolas Bueno and Isidore Ngueuleu Djeuba, in Business and Human Rights: Emerging Challenges, Issues, and Trends (Ziegler, Canapa, Cardozo, eds.), Nijhoff, 2024

Collaborateurs

Prof. Dr Nicolas Bueno Principal investigator