"Swiss to vote on companies' global liability for rights abuses", 4 June 2020

Swiss voters look set to get the final say on whether Swiss-based companies should be liable for human rights abuses and environmental violations in operations even outside Switzerland.

...Swiss politicians are under pressure to find an economically viable counterproposal to a far-reaching constitutional amendment put forward by the Responsible Business Initiative campaign...

On Thursday, a parliamentary committee trying to iron out differences in legislation approved by the upper and lower houses chose a more business-friendly solution rejected by the initiative’s organisers...

Both chambers of parliament still have to vote on the compromise next week. If one of the chambers rejects it, voters will decide on the initiative, likely in November, without any counterproposal...

Under Switzerland’s direct democracy, supporters can force a binding referendum if they gather 100,000 voter signatures.