Page 298 - วารสารกฎหมาย ศาลอุทธรณ์คดีชํานัญพิเศษ

วารสารกฎหมาย ศาลอุทธรณ์คดีชำานัญพิเศษ

CSR is not a law. Nor it is soft law. It is an initiative or a unilateral declaration
of a position by an enterprise to pursue certain legal goals, such as the observance of

basic human rights. According to the European Commission, CSR is “a concept whereby
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companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and

in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Being socially responsible
means not only fulfilling legal expectations, but also going beyond compliance and
investing ‘more’ into human capital, the environment and the relations with stakeholders.” 6

The ILO GB’s 2006 Subcommittee on MNEs defined CSR as “a way in which enterprises
give consideration to the impact of their operations on society and affirm their principles

and values both in their own internal methods and processes and in their interaction
with other actors. CSR is a voluntary, enterprise-driven initiative and refers to activities
that are considered to exceed compliance with the law.” 7

Most of those instruments cited above either implicitly or explicitly refer to
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some other legal instruments which are pertinent to materialize their CSR objectives:

UNGP Para.12 specifically mentions the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles
and Rights at Work, and through which, the fundamental rights provided for in the eight
ILO core Conventions. The SGDs’ 8 goal addresses labour matters and it even refers,
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apart from generally referring to a number of basic labour rights Conventions, to the
ILO’s Global Jobs Pact (Goal 8.b). Corporate entities often make reference to OECD

Guidelines, the ILO Tripartite Declaration and quite frequently to ISO26000, along

5 As an example, Article 10 of the Mizuno Corporation’s Ethical Standard states: “Respecting human
rights prohibits all acts that may be considered to be discriminatory treatment and/or harassment. Mizuno also
guarantees employees’ rights to join a labor organization and group negotiations, and secures equal opportunities in
employment.” https://corp.mizuno.com/en/csr/employee.aspx (visited 19 July 2019).
6 Green Paper of 2001 “Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility”, Brussels,
18.7.2001, pp. 6-8.
7 GB.295/MNE/2/1 295th Session, March 2006.
8 For example, see the Code of Conduct, Puma Co. (https://about.puma.com/en/this-is-puma) (visited
19 Jul 2019) “Vendors and their subcontractors must guarantee the right of their employees to join unions, or
other work or industry related associations, and to bargain collectively. These rights must be given without fear of
harassment, interference or retaliation”. Footnote 2 above citing a passage from Mizuno Co. is another example of
implicit reference to ILS.

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