Overview
On March 12, 2026, the 34th Chamber of the Paris Court of Justice issued a significant ruling regarding the duty of vigilance under the French “Duty of Vigilance Law”.
The Court found the parent company of a French group liable for failing to properly develop its vigilance plan, as required by the Duty of Vigilance Law.
In Depth
The case concerns a wave of layoffs at a Turkish subsidiary of the group, which occurred after certain workers established a labour union.
A lawsuit was filed against the French parent company, alleging the violation of a fundamental right, namely the freedom of association, within the scope of French law on the duty of vigilance.
The court identified major shortcomings in the group’s vigilance plans published in 2017 and 2018. In particular, the risk mapping seemed to have excluded the group’s subsidiaries. According to the court, this exclusion prevented the identification of potential violations of the freedom of association, and therefore, further preventing its remediation.
The court established a causal link between the absence of a tailored vigilance plan (including the associated required risk mapping) and the harm suffered. In particular, it highlights the legislature’s intent to strengthen Article L.225-102-2 of the Commercial Code in order to hold companies accountable for breaches of their duty of care, in accordance with the European CS3D Directive (2024/1760).
Key takeaways
- Parent companies could now be deemed liable for ensuring compliance with and the implementation of vigilance plans by their subsidiaries in France
- All subsidiaries of any French group must be covered by the group’s vigilance plan and its related risk mapping
- Freedom of association should be taken into account regardless of the subsidiary’s geographic location and local legal system
It is therefore important to ensure that a company’s global compliance program includes a risk mapping exercise related to the duty of vigilance, based on an in-depth review of processes across all group local and foreign subsidiaries.
As a reminder, the Duty of Vigilance Law creates an obligation to implement a compliance program to prevent any breaches of environmental law, human rights, and health and safety law. This program must be based on various pillars and includes, amongst others, risk mapping related to the existence and effectiveness of preventive measures in place. This law often applies in parallel to French anti-corruption Sapin II Law, depending on the applicable thresholds of each of the laws.