France's Duty of Vigilance Law
The 2017 French law on the corporate duty of vigilance places a due diligence duty on large French companies and requires them to publish an annual "vigilance plan." An unofficial English translation of the law is available here and a compilation of resources and analysis as well as an overview of legal actions – both lawsuits and notices – that have been brought under the law to date can be found below.
Scope of the Law
The Law applies to French companies with more than 5000 employees in the company's direct or indirect French-based subsidiaries and with more than 10,000 employees if including direct and indirect subsidiaries globally.
Vigilance Plan
The company's vigilance plan must establish effective measures to identify risks and prevent severe impacts on human rights and the environment resulting from the company's own activities, and the activities of companies it controls directly or indirectly (i.e. subsidiaries as defined by French corporate law), and its subcontractors and suppliers with whom the company has an established commercial relationship, when the activities are linked to this relationship. Measures include risk mapping, tailored actions to mitigate risks or prevent severe impacts, an alert mechanism, and a system to monitor the effectiveness of measures implemented.
Enforcement, Sanctions & Liability
The law provides for a formal notice mechanism to order the company to comply with its vigilance obligations. In case of non-compliance, a court can order the company to comply with its vigilance obligations. This includes ordering the company to develop a vigilance plan when such a plan is missing, or to improve its vigilance measures when these are inadequate. A court may impose a penalty for each day of non-compliance.
The law also provides for civil liability. Under the law, harmed individuals can bring a civil lawsuit (based on French tort law) to seek damages resulting from a company's failure to comply with its vigilance obligations, where compliance would have prevented the harm.
Since the law was adopted in 2017, lawsuits have been filed and formal notices have been sent by NGOs to companies. Resources on these legal actions can be found below.
Lawsuits & Formal Notices
Since the law was adopted in 2017, lawsuits have been filed and formal notices have been sent by NGOs to companies. Resources on these legal actions can be found below.
Lawsuits
2023
TotalEnergies lawsuit (re reparations of damages caused by activities in Uganda)
In June 2023, several NGOs sued TotalEnergies again over its giant oil project in Uganda, seeking compensation for alleged human rights violations.
TotalEnergies lawsuit (re human rights abuses at gas plant in Yemen)
In February 2023, Mena Rights Group filed a lawsuit over alleged failure to identify and prevent human rights violations at a gas plant operated by Yemen LNG, in which TotalEnergies is the main shareholder.
BNP Paribas lawsuit (re financing fossil fuel companies)
In February 2023, several NGOs took legal action against BNP Paribas for making a significant contribution to global warming by lending to fossil fuel companies.
BNP Paribas lawsuit (re deforestation, slave labour & indigenous rights)
In February 2023, several environmental and human rights activist groups took legal action against BNP Paribas with the Paris Judicial court for providing financial services to companies they allege contribute to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Danone lawsuit (re plastic use & pollution)
In January 2023, several NGOs took legal action against Danone. This follows a formal notice issued in September 2022 against nine major food companies for failing to address the impact of their use of plastic across their value chain.
2021-2022
Idemia lawsuit (re human rights risk of Kenya digital ID)
In July 2022, four organisations filed a lawsuit against Idemia over alleged human rights violations in relation to a contract with the Kenyan Government to capture the population's biometric data for the development of a national digital ID system in Kenya, so-called National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) or Huduma Namba. In August 2023, Idemia agreed to amend its vigilance plan to mitigate human rights risks associated with Kenya's digital ID system.
Yves Rocher lawsuit (re workers' rights & trade union rights)
In March 2022, two NGOs and the Turkish union Petrol-Iş filed a lawsuit against Rocher Group over the alleged failure of its Turkish subsidiary, Kosan Kozmetik, to ensure workers' rights and trade union rights.
La Poste lawsuit (re undocumented workers)
In December 2021, four organisations, including unions, filed a lawsuit against La Poste over alleged breaches of its obligations in particular regarding risks of undocumented migrants being working for its subcontractors.
Suez lawsuit (re water contamination in Chile)
In June 2021, four organisations filed a lawsuit against Suez for failing to modify its vigilance plan to include detailed and adequate measures to mitigate and prevent the risk of human rights abuses linked to its subsidiary ESSAL in Chile, following contamination of drinking water in Osorno, Chile.
Casino lawsuit (re deforestation & land grabs)
In March 2021, Brazilian and Colombian Indigenous Peoples’ organisations and an international NGO coalition filed a lawsuit against supermarket Casino Group over its subsidiaries' alleged links to deforestation and land grabs.
2019-2020
EDF lawsuit (re wind project in Mexico)
In October 2020, Unión Hidalgo and NGOs filed a lawsuit to challenge EDF’s planned wind farm project in Mexico, alleging that it violates the rights of the local indigenous community, including their right to free, prior and informed consent.
Total lawsuit (re climate change in France)
In January 2020, French NGOs and local authorities filed a lawsuit against Total in an attempt to force the company to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Total lawsuit (re oil pipeline operations in Uganda)
In October 2019, six NGOs filed a lawsuit against oil company Total for allegedly failing to comply with the law on oil extraction and pipeline operations in Uganda and Tanzania.
Formal Notices
STMicroelectronics
Carrefour
BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and BPCE
Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Danone, Lactalis, Les Mousquetaires, Picard Surgelés, Nestlé France and McDonald's France
TotalEnergies
EDF
Orano (formerly Areva)
McDonald's
XPO Logistics Europe
Teleperformance
Resources
Key additional resources on the French vigilance law and its implementation, including websites, reports, analysis and commentaries.
Our portal on mandatory due diligence
This portal collects the latest news on mandatory human rights due diligence, national and regional developments, public company statements in support of such legislation, guidance for companies and governments, and examples of company implementation of human rights due diligence.
Duty of vigilance radar
This website, by NGOs Sherpa and CCFD-Terre Solidaire with support from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, identifies companies covered by the law and provides access to their vigilance plans.
France's law on the corporate duty of vigilance: A practical and multidimensional analysis
This legal publication provides in-depth analysis of the law, including articles from academics, lawyers, NGOs and international companies committed to implementing socially responsible practices.
Analysis on first legal cases filed under enforcement mechanism set out in Duty of Vigilance law
This article by lawyers Stéphane Brabant and Elsa Savourey outlines the latest developments under the law and challenges concerning the law's enforcement mechanism.
Corporate due diligence laws & legislative proposals in Europe (Mar 2022)
This table by ECCJ compares the key provisions of corporate due diligence laws and legislative proposals in Europe.