Volume 6 : 1
Human Rights Challenges for Multinational Corporations Working and Investing in Conflict Zones
Corporate Complicity under International Criminal Law: A Case for Applying the Rome Statute to Business Behaviour
Regulating the Private Security Industry: Connecting the Public and the Private through Transnational Private Regulation
Ethical Accounting For The Conduct Of Private Military And Security Companies
False Extraterritoriality? Municipal and Multinational Jurisdiction over Transnational Corporations
Sunlight for the Heart of Darkness: Conflict Minerals and the First Wave of SEC Regulation of Social Issues
Shining Brightly? Human Rights and the Responsible Sourcing of Diamond and Gold Jewellery from High Risk and Conflict-Affected Areas
Corporate Human Rights Violations and Private International Law. A Facilitating Role for PIL or PIL as a Complicating Factor?
Human Rights Challenges for Multinational Corporations Working and Investing in Conflict Zones
Corporate Complicity under International Criminal Law: A Case for Applying the Rome Statute to Business Behaviour
Regulating the Private Security Industry: Connecting the Public and the Private through Transnational Private Regulation
Ethical Accounting For The Conduct Of Private Military And Security Companies
False Extraterritoriality? Municipal and Multinational Jurisdiction over Transnational Corporations
Sunlight for the Heart of Darkness: Conflict Minerals and the First Wave of SEC Regulation of Social Issues
Shining Brightly? Human Rights and the Responsible Sourcing of Diamond and Gold Jewellery from High Risk and Conflict-Affected Areas
Corporate Human Rights Violations and Private International Law. A Facilitating Role for PIL or PIL as a Complicating Factor?
Year
2012
Volume
6
Number
1
Page
56
Language
English
Court
Reference
N. JÄGERS, “Regulating the Private Security Industry: Connecting the Public and the Private through Transnational Private Regulation”, HRILD 2012, nr. 1, 56-91
Recapitulation
Recent years have witnessed a growing use of private military and security companies in conflict zones. States, but also non-state actors such as multinational corporations and NGOs, are increasingly relying on the private provision of security to protect their assets and their employees. Highly publicised incidents have given rise to criticism of alleged human rights abuses and a lack of accountability. The regulatory response is highly fragmented. Moreover, the limitations of national governments in effectively regulating this transnational industry working in weak governance zones are becoming blatantly clear. In response, a number of so-called transnational private regulatory regimes have emerged in which the role of the state is either a limited one or completely missing. The drivers that have led to the emergence of transnational private regulation aimed at improving the human rights performance of the private security sector are discussed first. The article starts from the proposition that such private regulation may add value and subsequently, drawing on regulation theory, analyses elements of private regulation that support or undermine this proposition. The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly, existing (semi-) private initiatives are mapped and evaluated based on desk study and interviews with stakeholders to identify possible strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, against this background it reflects on the latest addition to the field of private regulation of security and human rights, the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC-PSP), adopted in Geneva on 9 November 2010. The evaluation of the quality, legitimacy and enforcement (elements that can be considered as contributing to or undermining the effectiveness of regulatory instruments) of the transnational private regulation regimes in the field of security and human rights reveal many weaknesses, especially in the private mechanisms created by trade associations. Nevertheless, even though clearly never stand-alone answers, such regimes add value, as private regulation can be a way to help bridge the public/private divide. It is therefore worth looking at how it can be improved in the field of security and human rights. The potential for the latest transnational regulatory regime, the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers is promising in several respects.
