Modern Slavery and Directors’ Disqualification: A Convergence of Opportunity and Challenge

Prevention and elimination of modern slavery is a priority of this era, eliciting responses at an international level and in domestic laws. The duty of organisations to ensure transparency in their supply chains is the strongest representation of corporate responsibility in this field. Less attention has been given to the current/potential role of insolvency mechanisms, in relation to companies’ commission of modern slavery offences, and in relation to their failure to comply with their supply-chain obligations. This paper engages with this novel question by examining the proposition to incorporate a directors’ disqualification sanction into the United Kingdom framework governing companies’ modern slavery supply chain obligations. This represents an opportunity, insofar as the disqualification regime is ostensibly well-placed to address weaknesses in companies’ compliance with their responsibilities. However, it represents a challenge in that adoption and implementation would have to navigate drawbacks such as the limitations of existing grounds for disqualification and potential weaknesses in the design and enforcement of a bespoke sanction. Moreover, it should confront uncertainty as to whether disqualification is an effective tool for preventing misconduct by the professional/executive class of managers at the helm of large companies. Increased emphasis on regulating the human rights obligations of companies makes it imperative that this question is addressed.