The Swiss Responsible Business Initiative and the Need for Transnational Regulations

As companies and subsidiaries act more often internationally, effective legal rules are needed to capture the liability and due diligence problems which go along with this development. The SRBI is an illustration of a national approach, using domestic legislation to solve the transnational problem described above. This initiative can be understood as part of the wider legal development of corporate liability for human rights violations, on both the national and international level. This essay argues that transnational solutions are preferable over national attempts. However, as there is a lack of such solutions, national efforts as the SRBI should be encouraged.