Work

Beyond the individual-company: from corporate social responsibilities to corporate social liability

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Private law, into which company law is assimilated, follows two basic models of liability: individual liability, which is the priority model, and organisational liability, which applies in special circumstances. Yet neither of these models map directly on to the fragmented or 'networked' structure of transnational value chains. The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive demonstrates this point. EU legislators attempted to translate the organisationally framed responsibilities set out in the UNGPs into a private law framework. However, in doing so, they reverted to individual liability, the hallmark of national company law, due to, we believe the lack of a clear justification for making individual companies responsible for their value chain. We argue that addressing the issues raised by transnational value chains requires going beyond this dichotomy and developing a network liability model from within interpersonal law.

Source: Transnational Legal Theory

DOI: 10.1080/20414005.2025.2479318

Authors: John Quinn, Rónán Condon

Institution: Dublin City University

Language: English

Topic: Corporate Law and Human Rights

Subfield: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Royal Irish Academy, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme