Corporate Social Responsibility (IVOR nr. 77) 2010/10.7.2:10.7.2 Appointment of the Conciliator-Ombudsman-Mediator

Corporate Social Responsibility (IVOR nr. 77) 2010/10.7.2

10.7.2 Appointment of the Conciliator-Ombudsman-Mediator

Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.

Since the conflict had emerged and evolved in India, Mr Lubbers felt that the best place to resolve it would be in India. Therefore, he sought the assistance of Mr Ashok Khosla, a former Indian government and UN officer.1 Mr Lubbers and Mr Khosla are both representatives of the Earth Charter.2 Among other, Mr Khosla was requested to propose a suitable candidate to act as 'conciliator-ombudsperson-mediator' (COM), an idea suggested by CCC/ICN. It was agreed that the COM would perform its task in accordance with its terms of reference and within the framework of Indian law and international standards including the Earth Charter, so as to provide it with flexibility in reaching wise decisions. CSR conflicts - as this case study illustrates - often transcend borders. Since laws are mainly organised within state-based systems, commonly resulting in different legal standards, it is difficult to solve these conflicts by means oflegal standards only.3 For that reason, the COM was also provided in its terms of reference with the Earth Charter as a tool against which to measure its decisions. As the Earth Charter provides for a common ethical basis against which no one would object, depolarisation would so be fostered.

In addition to appointing the COM, Mr Khosla and Mr Lubbers announced that they - as ' Custodians' of the mediation agreement - remained available to implement the agreement and to act as a 'sounding board' for the COM. The parties also found agreement about the appointment of a third Custodian, based in Bangalore, in the person of Sri. A. P. Venkateswaran.4

In consultation with the parties involved, the Custodians requested the Bangalore Mediation Centre (BMC) to act as COM. By the end of February 2008, the BMC had formally accepted the assignment and proposed to appoint Justice Malimath, an independent and wise person, to execute this task.5 All parties welcomed his appointment and agreed to empower him to evaluate potential complaints from employees, NGOs and other organisations and to solve these in consultation with FFI/JKPL. He was also instructed to safeguard diligent public communications on FFI/JKPL and its customers.6 Another task was to encourage FFI/JKPL to obtain certification of its operations by a CSR certification institution.7 Consequently, permanent monitoring was provided for.

In early March 2008, Justice Malimath received a vote of confidence from all parties and - at the Inaugural Meeting of 6 March 2008, in the presence of the Custodians8 and all the Indian parties9 - he accepted the mandate to resolve future conflicts and agreed to report publicly on any complaints and on his work on a semi-annual basis.

By the end of March 2008, the Dutch Ministers of Economic Affairs and for Foreign Trade informed Parliament that the Lubbers Mediation had succeeded in a structural solution to the conflict, thereby indicating that the facilitating role of the Dutch government in offering the Lubbers Mediation had come to an end. The government expressed its hope that besides G-Star also other former and new customers would place orders with FFI/JKPL.10

Deze functie is alleen te gebruiken als je bent ingelogd.