UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Due Diligence Legislation and the Politics of Implementation: The Case of the German Supply Chain Law

Identification

Public canonical key

radar:r-9d392fbf76b070c2ab12667afffab75e

Authors

Christian Scheper

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-13T14:53:55.101020+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-13T14:53:55.101020+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

University of Duisburg-Essen

Reported affiliation countries

DE

Documentary abstract — original language

ABSTRACT The article examines the implementation of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence regulations as a politically formative process. Integrating insights from global value chain (GVC) research with the assumptions of legal struggles and legal endogeneity, the article analyses how administrative practice shapes the meaning and boundaries of due diligence obligations. The study empirically focuses on the German supply chain due diligence law, conducting a discourse analysis of eight guidance documents issued by the Federal Office of Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). The German law is an insightful case study because the administrative body plays a more central role in the implementation process than in other due diligence laws. It acts as a key interpreter and guide for companies, as well as a controlling authority and handler of complaints. The analysis shows that BAFA's guidance must be understood in the context of an exceptionally high level of ambiguity that has arisen from the evolution of international soft law on due diligence norms. During implementation, the BAFA organizes ambiguity rather than resolving it, delegating substantive interpretive work to companies while normalizing private governance instruments such as audits and certifications. In doing so, administrative practice embeds due diligence obligations within existing GVC governance regimes and contributes to the hybridization and managerialization of public regulation. The article thus specifies how implementation becomes a key arena in which due diligence is shaped, contested, and potentially diluted.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

https://openalex.org/W7135037274

DOI

10.1111/rego.70134

Documentary context

Documentary family

article

Source-reported types

article

Publishers

Wiley

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1

• Document · https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70134

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

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