Under The Legal Perspective Of Corporate Social Responsibility Research

The annual meeting of Commercial Law Society of China Law Society hosted by Sichuan Academy of Social Science was held in Chengdu in September 2009. More than 200 professors and experts of commercial law attended this meeting, including the most well-known experts like Jiang Ping, Wang Baoshu, Zhu Ciyun, Ye Lin, Zhou Yousu, Gu Gongyun, Qin Youtu, Zhao Wanyi, Lei Xinghu, etc. Around all sorts of issues of Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR), they presented and exchanged their opinions in this three-day meeting which achieved a fruitful result. This meeting is a great milestone in CSR theory study.I had a privilege to participate this meeting and was present at their discussions the whole time. I learned a lot from them. I find out that most of them were very affirmative about advocating CRS, but when the discussions came to the legal content, the characteristic, effect, of CRS and how to put it into practice, especially the concept of CRS, they couldn't conclude agreements. In my opinion, clarifying the concept of CRS should be given top priority, because an indefinite concept will cause a confusion in study in other quarters and a hard situation to apply CRS in practice. Based on these considerations, I started this article with a discussion of the concept of CRS and then offered several legislative proposals in order to establish a legal system of CRS in China.This article include three chapters:Chapter One is mainly about the details of the CRS concept and its characteristic. I enumerate many concept which is expounded by scholars both home and aboard. I put forward my own understanding of the concept after evaluating and analyzing those I listed. Then, I discussed the characteristic of CRS in brief and to consider that it has a dual nature with both legal responsibility and moral responsibility.Chapter Two is mainly about an Institutional perspective to analyze the contents of CRS. It concludes five parts: selection of CRS theoretical foundation, analysis of the purpose of CRS, definition of subjects of rights and obligations, consideration of the scope of regulation and determination of the liability manners. All five parts are discussed surrounding the institutionalization of CRS, in order to combine the theory and the practice of CRS.Chapter Three is mainly about the legislative proposals of CRS in China. I examines China's legislations on CRS and analyzed the shortcomings of current laws. Then, by discussing the shortage of civil and commercial law regulating CRS, I raised that the CRS law should belong to the scope of economic law. Based on these conclusions, I offered some suggestion of building the principles and adjustment methods of CRS law, and establishing the public interest litigation system and corporation derivative suit system.