Codes of Conduct or private standards by transnational enterprises on the compliance of social minimum standards in production have a legal character, although they are usually not meant to be legally binding. Their legal character derives from their integration into private contracts on the one hand, and from the legal context of competition and consumer law on the other. We can realize this when we, for example, take a closer look at the German legal context. Legal theory should accept these private standards as a way of broadening the public debate over regulation of economic activity into a public discourse on legal standards. Legislation could also help by establishing a more specific and outspoken legal framework.
International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations