Civil liability for violations of human rights by private companies

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The project addresses the question under which conditions German mother companies may be held accountable for human rights violations of their foreign subsidiaries or suppliers. Human rights are violated in the cases of undignified working conditions, child and slave labour, the cooperation with exploiting and brutal political regimes, as well as far-reaching environmental pollution. The analysis focuses on German private law. Since this issue is not an exclusive phenomenon of the German legal system, the solutions of foreign legal systems are included and made fruitful for the assessment of the German legal situation. Since liability under current law can only be established in rare cases, foreign legal systems should be taken into account for a regulation proposal de lege ferenda.