Examining the Legal Challenges Related to Transparency and Corporate Social Responsibility in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mining Regulation.

Germain, Tuponaye Ruvugiro (2025) Examining the Legal Challenges Related to Transparency and Corporate Social Responsibility in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Mining Regulation. Doctoral thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Transparency and social responsibility are essential pillars of mining governance, ensuring equitable resource management, stakeholder accountability, and sustainable community development. This study examined the legal challenges surrounding these principles in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), noting that existing laws remain incomplete and ambiguous, particularly due to the absence of effective sanctions and the lack of mandatory publication of certain contracts, including those involving state-owned companies and the artisanal sector. In terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR), gaps include unclear standards for community consultation, uncertainty over the legal status of specifications, and ambiguity in community representation and administrative decision-making. Using primarily the doctrinal method, supplemented by comparative and empirical approaches, the research identifies significant normative and practical shortcomings in applying transparency and CSR obligations. Recommendations call for extending transparency requirements to the pre-contractual phase, mandating the publication of state-owned company contracts, and introducing sanctions for non-compliance. For CSR, the study proposes signing the specifications alongside the mining contract as an essential clause, so that their breach constitutes a contractual violation, and clarifying procedures for administrative and judicial remedies in cases of non-observance. Keywords: Transparency, essential pillars of mining governance, stakeholder accountability, sustainable community development, Democratic Republic of Congo

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