Chapter

International soft law initiatives : the opportunities and limitations of the Montreux Document, ICoC, and security operations management system standards

Rebecca DeWinter-Schmitt

Public international law and human rights violations by private military and security companies

Cham : Springer, 2017

p. 105-126 : diagr.

English

Bibliographie : p. 125-126

Private security companies (PSCs), governments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders of the private security industry have contributed to the development of an interlocking web of soft law initiatives to improve global governance of the private security industry. This chapter provides background on each initiative and examines their opportunities and limitations, to include their ability to ensure that PSCs respect applicable provisions of international human rights and humanitarian law in their operations and are held to account should they violate these laws. It concludes that rather than a forfeiture of the state’s obligation to regulate the private security industry, over time we are seeing a hardening of soft law initiatives as they make their way into procurement regulations and national laws. Nevertheless, remaining gaps in the soft law initiatives warrant greater efforts to develop binding laws and to provide greater support for successful implementation of these initiatives.

• Full text (restricted access : ICRC)

• Public international law and human rights violations by private military and security companies / Helena Torroja, ed.