Extraterritoriality and public procurement regulation in the context of global supply chains’ governance

With the globalisation of supply chains, the respect for human rights and labour standards in procurement practices has become a crucial priority. Human rights violations and modern slavery are now a real concern in the complex management of public supply chains and domestic procurement rules are increasingly taking them into account and regulating them, particularly in European countries. The aim of this paper is to frame the debate on the extraterritoriality of human rights in the regulation of global supply chains. To this end, the paper will focus on the role of firms in ensuring the respect of human rights and labour rights across national borders. With this object in mind, the paper will look at the ways in which the regulation of public procurement can help to better protect human rights and labour rights extraterritorially in the cross border behaviour of firms across the fragmented global supply chains.