The Swiss popular initiative on responsible business: From responsibility to liability

Unless the Swiss Parliament adopts a new law on corporate due diligence, Swiss citizens will decide in 2020 whether to adopt or reject a partial revision of the Constitution of Switzerland that aims to introduce a specific provision on responsible business. According to the proposal, companies that are based in Switzerland are required to carry out appropriate human rights and environmental due diligence in Switzerland and abroad. Furthermore, those companies shall be liable for human rights and environmental-related harm caused by (foreign) companies under their control unless they can prove that they took all due care to avoid the harm.