Chapter

Private military contractors

Chia Lehnardt

The practice of shared responsibility in international law

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017

p. 761-780

English

Contracted by both state and non-state actors, private military contractors provide services that are typically associated with the armed forces of a state. If private military personnel are hired by a state, they remain outside the structure of the state or international organisation. As they are not subjects of international law, private military or security personnel do not incur international responsiblity. At the same time, their conduct might implicate several international law subjects. Therefore, there are two aspects that are central to the question of shared responsbility for the conduct of private military personnel. First, how does the fact that private military contractors are at play affect the responsibility of the contracting state, or the state in whose territory they operate ? Second, are international law subjects that contract them, or allow them to operate, responsible for their conduct?

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• The practice of shared responsibility in international law / ed. by André Nollkaemper and Ilias Plakokefalos ; assistant ed: Jessica N.M. Schechinger ; co-ed. by Jann Kleffner