Child Labour Regulation: Children’s Rights Protection with a Focus on the Fast-Fashion Industry

This thesis addresses the pressing global issue of child labour, examining how it generates multiple violations of children’s fundamental rights. Specifically, the study focuses on the fast-fashion industry, based on interconnected global supply chains, which produce numerous infringements that collectively compromise children’s right to life. The study highlights the lack of transparency in supply chains, where the rights of vulnerable children are often sacrificed for speed and low production costs. Motivated by ethical concerns about the human costs of global hyper-consumption, the research shows that no economic interest can justify the exploitation of children. It examines international instruments, including the 1989 UNCRC and relevant ILO Conventions, alongside key European standards, forming the basis for sector-specific measures. In the absence of dedicated fast-fashion laws, the study proposes embedding child labour prevention within corporate due diligence. In this context, the latter refers to efforts by economic operators to implement mandatory or voluntary measures to identify, prevent, mitigate, or eliminate child labour in the relevant sector. The paper thus explores the shift of responsibility from States to private actors and the transition from voluntary corporate responsibility and soft law—whose limitations are evident—to binding European legal requirements. It investigates how regulatory developments are transforming initial ethical expectations into legally enforceable corporate obligations. Firstly, the study highlights the pivotal role of businesses in protecting children’s rights and the imperative of responsible corporate conduct, while showing the shortcomings of soft law, which often fail to address such a pervasive social issue; accordingly, the need for binding legal instruments emerges. Secondly, it identifies European regulatory harmonization as vital to eradicate child labour in global fast-fashion supply chains, as fragmented national measures remain less effective; though, its effectiveness depends on the prompt and rigorous enforcement of Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 by businesses. It is concluded that contributions from economic operators, even if modest, are fundamental in protecting these vulnerable groups from economic exploitation.