In the Shadow of Soft Law: The Handling of Corporate Social Responsibility Disputes under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

This socio-legal study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the various practices NCPs apply to solve CSR disputes during specific instances. It does so in four parts, starting with an outline of the legal background of the CSR debate and movement in Part II. Part Ill examines the construction and content of the Guidelines. Also, Part III explores the soft law nature debate and how it shapes the NCPs\u27 commitment and implementation of the Guidelines. In Part IV, the empirical findings of this study are presented to illuminate how the soft law nature of the Guidelines shapes the NCPs\u27 commitment and implementation of the Guidelines. The empirical findings consist of a content analysis of fifty-seven published final statements of the NCPs reporting on specific instances. Also, the findings include twenty-five NCPs\u27 responses to a survey, which was addressed to all forty-two NCPs, and interviews with five NCP officials, and one OECD official. The empirical methods were combined in order to collect and analyze data in terms of the procedural practices and outcomes of this dispute system. In addition, Part IV questions how NCPs understand their role and function in handling CSR disputes and the goals they aim to achieve. Finally, Part V consists of concluding remarks about this dispute system while providing a brief update and forecast about the 2011 Guidelines