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right to engage in enterprise, but they must preserve the essence and significance of this right. 13 Next, the important role in the legal regulation of selected aspects of CSR is also played out by the international commitments of the Czech Republic – the so-called ‘obligations to protect’ 14 – mostly those of a human rights nature. 15 However, these obligations mainly cover the duties to prevent either the most serious harms to individuals or those harms prohibited by international treaties (e.g. genocide, right to life, racial discrimination, or discrimination against women). These state duties apply regardless of the nature of the actual perpetrators, who could also be companies. A similar kind of influence of the international commitments of the states on CSR of companies can be found e.g. in the environmental targets the states, which are not reachable without legislative instruments addressed, among others, to these companies. More detailed national regulation focusing directly on CSR stems from EU membership, such as Directive 2014/95/EU, which led to the amendment of the Act on Accounting (act No. 563/1991 Coll. as amended) and other related acts, and requires certain companies and groups employing on average more than 500 employees to disclose non-financial and diversity information concerning environmental issues, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, and anti-corruption and bribery matters (§ 32f and foll. of the Act on Accounting). Already mentioned were the EU directives on public procurement, which were transposed into the Czech legal order. Since 2014, a bill on social entrepreneurship, which would enable socially responsible companies to gain special status, has been in preparation. Even after this period of time, the process for its possible legislative approval in Parliament has not formally commenced. Last but not least, we should not omit the soft law governmental instruments concerning CSR. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic presented the revised version of the National Action Plan of Social Responsibility of Corporations in the Czech Republic in 2016. 16 “Legalization” of CSR is presented as the last resort and the focus is set on spreading information about CSR through consultations with companies. Legal regulation with significance for CSR Despite the assertion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, when we compare CSR guidelines prepared by international organizations, we must Coll., is available at: https://www.usoud.cz/fileadmin/user_upload/ustavni_soud_www/Pravni_uprava/ AJ/Listina_English_version.pdf 13 Article 4(4) of the Charter. The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic uses the proportionality test to assess the constitutionality of the legislative interference with this fundamental right, see e.g. the commentary to the Article 26 of the Charter written by Jan Wintr in WAGNEROVÁ, E. et al.: Listina základních práv a svobod: komentář. Praha: Wolters Kluwer ČR, 2012, pp. 573 and foll. 14 Different from the ‘Responsibility to Protect’, which is the concept developed in legal theory and soft-law. 15 In general, see e.g. HAKIMI, M.: State Bystander Responsibility. 21 The European Journal of International Law, 2010, pp. 341 and foll. For the Member States of the Council of Europe see e.g.: MOWBRAY, A. R.: The Development of Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights by the European

Court of Human Rights. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2004. 16 See http://narodniportal.cz/narodni-akcni-plan-csr/

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