Proposing CSR Provisions in Kuwaiti Legal Vision: A Middle-Ground Between UK and Indian Companies Law

Abstract

CSR concepts encourage the identification of specific core CSR categories. Such categories include ethical, legal, economic and environmental responsibilities and obligations. The Indian and UK contexts exemplify a variety of CSR-related legislative provisions enacted to underscore the importance of a company’s stakeholder obligations and responsibilities that extend beyond its corporate constituencies. However, the current CSR jurisprudence is carefully evaluated in Kuwaiti company law given the lack of CSR-related legislative provisions in the country. There is a need to explore and analyse these areas in different contexts, such as CSR in UK and Indian company laws, to form the basis of potential CSR provisions and legal vision for Kuwaiti company law. This chapter examines the CSR-related provisions in Kuwaiti company law. The chapter starts with a discussion of CSR practices and CSR in relation to the relevant provisions of Kuwaiti company law and corporate governance, including board of directors, CSR reporting and information disclosure, corporate constituencies, directors’ duties and corporate objectives. The visions of CSR in the UK and Indian Companies Act and Kuwait are discussed and compared throughout the chapter in order to determine a middle ground for Kuwait with respect to adopting more socially responsible principles.