Şirketlerin Tedarik Zincirlerinde İnsan Hakları Özen Yükümlülükleri- Alman Tedarik Zincirleri Özen Yükümlülükleri Kanunu'na Genel Bir Bakış

Abstract

Various human rights violations such as child labor, inadequate occupational health and safety measures, forced labor, discrimination, and low wages occur in the supply chains of multinational corporations. Today, it is recognized that corporations have an obligation to prevent human rights risks/violations in their supply chains and should be held accountable for violations. Voluntary principles and standards have been established by the OECD, ILO, UN and EU. However, the majority of these are soft law rules that are not legally binding. The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act is one of the first legally binding national regulations on the human rights responsibility of companies. It requires companies to fulfill various human rights due diligence obligations with respect to their own operations as well as those of direct and indirect suppliers. As Germany is our largest export destination, Turkish companies supplying goods or services to companies covered by the Law must comply with the human rights and environmental due diligence obligations set out in the Law. The paper aims to present a framework for companies' human rights due diligence obligations in supply chains and international developments on the subject, and to outline the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Law, which will also find application in Turkey.