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The course is taught every week during the summer semester of the academic year.
The number of students is limited to 20. Over-enrolment is not possible. The reason for the limited number of students is an attempt to create sufficient space for individual attention to students. Course characteristics. This course is designed for students with a deeper interest in business law and sustainability issues. Students will use the knowledge from the course especially if they work as lawyers, corporate lawyers or lawyers of public authorities. The aim of the Sustainability in Business course is to introduce students to the concepts of sustainability or ESG (environmental, social and governance) and the impact of their regulation on business. As the issue of sustainability is of a highly interdisciplinary nature, the course is expected to involve experts from other institutions (e.g. the Centre for Climate Law and Sustainability of the Institute of State and Law of the CAS, v.v.i. or the Czech National Bank). The course requires active participation of students. Students continuously prepare for each lesson according to the assignment. In addition, five continuous assignments are required and are given throughout the semester. Some work is presented orally in class. A midtermtest (multiple choice test) is given in the sixth or seventh week of class. Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (13.05.2025)
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1) For successful completion of the course it is necessary to actively participate in full-time teaching (min. 75 % attendance). The final course grade consists of three parts: (i) an oral examination assessment (30 % of the classification), (ii) the sum of the points obtained for the homework produced during the semester (50 % of the classification) and (iii) the sum of points obtained for the midterm test (20% of the classification).
2) In the course of semester, the student will complete five (5) graded homework assignments. The maximum points per assignment is 10, and the grade is based on correctness, adherence to instructions for preparation of the paper, diligence in researching sources, and accuracy of expression, persuasiveness of the argument, and conciseness of the conclusion.
In the preparation of homework assignments, students may use any sources, but the assignment must be prepared independently. The work must adhere to the rules of authorship (originality and correct use of sources). Violation of any of these rules means that the student will receive 0 points for the assignment. For late submission, the assignment will be given 0 points.
Each assignment will be be assigned in advance and will be related to the topic(s) of the following seminar. It must be submitted at least 2 days before the seminar. At the seminar itself, the topic will be elaborated in the home homework will be solved, evaluated and further developed together with the students.
Up to 50 points can be awarded for homework assignments.
3) The midtermtest consists of 20 multiple choice questions, which the student will have 30 minutes to answer. For each correct answer a point can be earned. A total of 20 points can be earned in this way. Students may use their own legal texts during the written test.
4) The course ends with an oral examination where the student answers one randomly selected question. A total of 30 points can be obtained in this way.
5) The course is classified according to the number of points obtained as follows: excellent (1) - 100 - 87 points, very good (2) - 86 - 73 points, good (3) - 72 - 60 points, fail (4) - 59 points or less.
Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (13.05.2025)
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The subject covers following topics: - consistency of the transfer of responsibility for a sustainable global economy to the private business sector with the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of enterprise; - the purpose of the business corporation; - tools to impose obligations to achieve sustainability; - the obligations of businesses to identify and report environmental and social impacts and risks to the public and regulators (non-financial reporting or sustainability reporting); - the impact of sustainability on corporate governance, e.g. on the composition of elected bodies or the duty of members of elected bodies to make decisions in the interests of the corporation; - the trend towards climate-related shareholder activism and related climate litigation against corporations; - sustainable finance - an overview of selected sustainable finance regulation; - obligations of businesses in relation to their supply chains; - the impact of foreign regulations (e.g. the German Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, Loi de Vigilance); - the impact of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) on the obligations of businesses; - climate responsibility of corporations; - identifying and combating practices that aim to give the impression of meeting sustainability criteria (greenwashing) Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (28.08.2025)
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Basic literature: PRINCIPALE, S. Fostering Sustainability in Corporate Governance: Analysis of the EU Sustainable Corporate Governance and Due Diligence Directives. Springer Nature, 2023 SCHALL, A. The CSDDD: Good Law or Bad Law? European Company Law. 3/2024 PACCES, A. M. Civil Liability in the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Proposal: A Law & Economics Analysis. European Corporate Governance Institute - Law Working Paper No. 691/2023. 2023. MCCORQUODALE, R. et al. Human Rights Due Diligence in Law and Practice: Good Practices and Challenges for Business Enterprises. Business and Human Rights Journal. 2/2017 FEIGERLOVÁ, M. Moving from Pledges to Commitments: Analysing Climate Transition Plans in the EU Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Carbon & Climate Law Review. 1/2024 ARISTOVA, E., HIGHAM, C., HIGHAM, I., SETZER, J. Corporate Climate Change Responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 2/2024 BRIGHT, C., BUHMANN, K. Risk-based due diligence, climate change, human rights and the just transition. Sustainability. 13/2021 Other literature: CARADONNA, J. L. Sutainability. A history. Oxford University Press, 2022 CHOUDHURY, B., PETRIN, M. Corporate Duties to the Public. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019 SJÅFJELL, B., BRUNER, C. M. The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability. Cambridge University Press, 2019 PAKŠIOVÁ, R., KLOUDA, J. Corporate Governance Reporting and Climate Strategies: Insights from Slovakia and Czechia, Cabon & Climate Law Review. 3/2024 RUGGIE, J. G., REES, C., DAVIS, R. Ten Years After: From UN Guiding Principles to Multi-Fiduciary Obligations. Business and Human Rights Journal. 2/2021 BUENO, N., BERNAZ, N., HOLLY, G. The Eu directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (CSDDD): the final political compromise. Business and Human Rights Journal. 2/2024 MITTWOCH, A.-C., BREMENKAMP, F. L. The German Supply Chain Act – A Sustainable Regulatory Framework for Internationally Active Market Players?," Review of European and Comparative Law. 4/2023 Basic legislation (always in wording in force and effect as on the date of examination): Directive (EU) 2024/1760 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on corporate sustainability due diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and Regulation (EU) 2023/2859 Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 amending Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Directive 2013/34/EU, as regards corporate sustainability reporting Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 of 31 July 2023 supplementing Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards sustainability reporting standards Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council Other sources: G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance 2023 European Commission: Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance 2020 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct Loi n° 2017-399 du 27 mars 2017 relative au devoir de vigilance des sociétés mères et des entreprises donneuses d'ordre Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz vom 16. Juli 2021 (BGBl. I S. 2959) Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive) COM/2023/166 final Last update: Šicnerová Barbora, Mgr. (28.08.2025)
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