JARGONFREE Compass for Sustainable Contracting
Reference

Glossary

Applicable law

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Commitment calibration

Commitment calibration: The deliberate choice of how strong a contractual commitment should be (aspiration, expectation, or obligation), based on its purpose, feasibility, and role in guiding behaviour.

Commitment calibration is explained as a strategy for better contracts in module IV.

Contract stack

Contract stack: The set of documents that together form and govern a contractual relationship between the parties. The contract stack typically includes the main agreement and any related documents, such as specifications, general terms and conditions, annexes and referenced policies or codes. See Sustainability in your contract stack

In practice, the contract stack is often complemented by parallel contracts that influence how commitments are implemented. See parallel contract stack. Individual transactions based on quotations, purchase orders, order confirmations, or similar exchanges, may further specify or operationalise the agreement in practice. See transactional contract layer.

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD): {{ TODO }}

For an overview on EU sustainability rules and their relevance for contracts, see EU sustainability rules and your contracts.

A detailed explanation of the CSDDD is provided at Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

Due diligence

Due diligence is the practical mechanism that connects identified sustainability impacts, regulatory expectations, and contractual implementation into one coherent management approach.

It provides the structure for deciding what to focus on, what to do, how to check whether it works, and how to respond when harm occurs, especially in complex value chains where collaboration and leverage determine what is achievable.

Five pathways to legal strategy are a framework by Prof. Robert Bird, outlining a five-stage path of activity in legal firms strategic development:

  1. Avoidance
  2. Compliance
  3. Prevention
  4. Advantage
  5. Transformation
Screenshot of the linked website
Bird, Robert C., Pathways of Legal Strategy (August 28, 2008). Stanford Journal of Law, Business, and Finance, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3171065

The Contracts for Sustainability Assessment Scorecard is based on these five stages.

General Terms and Conditions (GTCs)

General Terms and Conditions (GTCs), also referred to as Standard Terms and Conditions (STCs): Standard terms that apply across relationships.

Hard law

Hard law is law that is formally binding and enforceable.

It creates legal obligations (must/shall), is adopted through recognized law-making procedures, and can be interpreted and enforced by courts or regulators, with sanctions or legal remedies available if it is breached.

The antonym to hard law is soft law: law that is…

Internationally recognised principles and standards

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Key performance indicator (KPI)

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Large companies

Large companies: Under the CSDDD, this generally refers to companies with more than 1,000 employees and net worldwide turnover above EUR 450 million, as well as certain non-EU companies generating comparable turnover in the EU.

Main contract document

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Parallel contract stack

Parallel contract stack (also referred to as “shadow contract stack”): A set of documents and commitments, in printed or digital form, that exist alongside the “formal” contract or contract stack and influence how commitments are implemented in practice. These may include, for example, Codes of Conduct, onboarding documents, portal-based acceptances, quality agreements, and other parallel arrangements between the same parties. These parallel layers can determine how commitments are operationalised, monitored, and followed up in practice.

Policies

Policies: Internal documents that set out a company’s principles, commitments and rules on specific topics (such as sustainability or anti-corruption). Policies aim to guide decision-making and behaviour across the organisation.

Product or service specifications

Product or service specifications: Technical and performance requirements, including sustainability criteria

Soft law

Soft law is…

The antonym to soft law is hard law: law that is formally binding and enforceable.

Suppplier Code of Conduct (SCoC)

Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC): A document setting out sustainability standards and expectations regarding human rights, environment and good governancebusiness ethics for suppliers and other business partners, also referred to as a Code of Conduct (CoC) or Code of Conduct for Business Partners.

Supplier Requirements

Supplier Requirements: Technical, and operational and process-level requirements designed to translate sustainability standards and commitments into practice, often including requirements for data sharing and the acceptance of a (Supplier) Code of Conduct.