Introduction

Scope of application

Compliance program

Protection of whistleblowers

Audit and sanctions

Rules arising from the Sapin II Law

EU law

French law

Rules derived from competition law

Sapin II Law/Competition

Scope ratione personae

Scope ratione materiae

Scope

Development of plan

Measures included in plan

Inclusion in management report

Vigilance plan

Injunctions

Civil liability

Sanctions

Duty of vigilance (devoir de vigilance)

CSR programs

Reporting

Communication

Reporting and communication

Judicial sanctions

Risk to reputation, strategy and stability

Corporate Social Responsability (CSR)

Middlenext Code

IFA Corpus

AFEP - MEDEF Code

Types

Principles of governance

Principles incorporating CSR values

Principles

Comply or explain

Binding force

Private codes of conduct

Compliance

Article L. 225-102-4 of the Commercial Code requires a person to have a legitimate interest in bringing a claim in respect of the corporate duty of vigilance. In the absence of any specific legislation on the subject, it is left to the courts to determine what constitutes an interest in bringing an action. The latter has ruled that associations whose statutory purpose is to fight for respect for human rights and the rights of peoples, respect for human rights at work throughout the world, or the collective construction of a world of solidarity where fundamental rights are universally respected, justify an interest in taking legal action on the basis of the duty of vigilance . Similarly, workers' unions, which are expressly covered by Article L. 225-102-4, I, 4°, have a legal interest in bringing an action against an undertaking subject to the obligation to draw up and implement a vigilance plan . On the other hand, an association whose purpose is clearly to federate and train local authorities in environmental matters, by supporting them in their local environmental policy, but which does not establish that its articles of association confer on it the right to take legal action, is not eligible to make an application for an injunction on the basis of the duty of vigilance . In addition, the fact that the territories of local authorities are indiscriminately affected by the harmful effects of global warming is not sufficient to establish a local interest in bringing an action: only by demonstrating that the activity of the undertaking in question has a particular impact or effect on the territory of the local authority concerned can a local public interest be established, and hence an interest in bringing an action on the part of the local authorities .

Lastly, the courts in Paris specified that the right to bring an injunction against a company given formal notice to comply with its obligations under the duty of vigilance is not restricted to the signatories of such formal notice, but is open to any person who can demonstrate an interest in bringing proceedings .

CA Versailles, 10 December 2020, LawLex202200001382JBJ.

CA Paris, 18 June 2024, LawLex202400004578JBJ.

CA Paris, 18 June 2024, LawLex202400004579JBJ.

Classification by court

118. Classification by court