The French Constitutional Council backs the law on corporate duty of vigilance

The Constitutional body has given green light to the French law that will require largest companies domiciled in this country to adopt plans to identify and prevent their human rights and environmental impacts.

The body supervising the conformity of French law with their Constitution has filed today its decision on the appeal presented by a number of French parliamentarians and senators against the called “corporate law on vigilance”, that was passed by the Congress on 21 February. The decision maintains the core of the text but sets some limitations. For instance, it eliminates the civil penalty of 10 to 30 million Euros if a company fails to fulfil its duty to publish an annual plan on human rights and environmental risks and preventive measures.

The decision comes days after the publication of a joint statement where more than 75 civil society organisations and academics, including Indago, called on this French body to decide in favour of the norm. A different outcome would, according to the statement, represent an important setback for a legislative process, supported by civil society for many years, that would advance in the protection of human rights of people affected by global corporate activities.

European and French civil society celebrates the decision and demand other European States and the European Institutions to take steps in the same line.