Sabrina Dupouy
Sabrina Dupouy is an associate professor of law. Specializing in environmental law, business law, and contract law, her favorite topics include sustainability, the rights of nature, and sustainable finance. She is also an expert in shareholder foundations and enterprise foundations.
She is an expert with the Cercle des Juristes des Droits de la Nature (France's leading think tank on the rights of nature).
She won the Institut Choiseul 2025 “Future of Law: The 40 People Shaping the Future of Law” award.
Current project - International collaboration
Fondations actionnaires et gestion responsable des entreprises 2026-2028
Le groupe de travail se concentre sur les fondations actionnaires en tant que modèle distinctif de gouvernance des sociétés et de propriété, en abordant les questions juridiques et pratiques qui se posent dans ce domaine en pleine évolution. Une fondation actionnaire est une personne morale – une Fondation Reconnue d’Utilité Publique (FRUP), un fonds de dotation ou un fonds de pérennité – qui détient tout ou partie du capital d’une entreprise. Les travaux exploreront des questions clés telles que l’intégration des fondations actionnaires dans les cadres juridiques nationaux, la promotion de ce modèle dans les juridictions où il est moins connu, ainsi que les étapes pratiques nécessaires à la création de telles fondations. Il examinera également les structures de gouvernance, le rôle des familles fondatrices, les meilleures pratiques en matière de propriété engagée et responsable, ainsi que la conception de statuts types et de règlements intérieurs. Parmi les autres thèmes abordés figureront les structures de propriété hybrides – telles que les combinaisons entre propriété de fondation et propriété familiale – et les implications plus larges pour les fondations caritatives, les entreprises familiales et d’autres formes de propriété à long terme.
https://www.europeanlawinstitute.eu/hubs-sigs/sigs/enterprise-foundations-and-responsible-business-ownership-sig/
Project on Enterprise Foundations in Europe
The European Law Institute’s (ELI) project Enterprise Foundations in Europe began in 2023. The goal was clear: to create a modern and flexible legal framework for enterprise foundations—foundations that own businesses while pursuing long-term societal benefits
In September 2025, the ELI Council approved the model law co-created by the working group, which can be downloaded here:
ELI_European_Enterprise_Foundations_Model_Law.pdf
The working group on enterprise foundations hosted by the ELI is now studying the positive impact this framework will have in the coming years.
Latest article
The inconsistency of the normative force of CSR clauses.
The risks incurred by the debtor contractor
The lack of normative force of CSR clauses is regularly criticized. Indeed, it is commonly reported that they are ineffective in protecting the environment and human rights. This article examines another aspect of the normativity of CSR clauses. It addresses the risks raised by the inconsistency of the normativity of CSR clauses with regard to the contractor who is liable for the obligations entered into in the CSR clause.
These risks are primarily structural and result from the very terminology of CSR clauses, which are likely to take the contracting party far beyond the commitments it thought it was entering into on the day the contract was formed.
They are also contextual risks. Given the growing importance of environmental and social issues across all legal systems, and the corresponding increase in the powers of judges in this area, the enforcement of CSR clauses is fraught with unpredictability for the contracting party.