War by Contract: Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and Private Contractors
Francesco Francioni and Natalino Ronzitti
Abstract
The growth in scope and importance of the private military and security industry (PMSI) in the past decade has challenged the role of the state as the main provider of defence and security functions. At the same time it has put under stress the state's authority to properly oversee the conduct of private contractors and has raised the question whether existing rules of domestic law and international law are adequate to ensure their accountability in the event of abuses. This book addresses this second question through the lens of international human rights law and international humanitarian la ... More
The growth in scope and importance of the private military and security industry (PMSI) in the past decade has challenged the role of the state as the main provider of defence and security functions. At the same time it has put under stress the state's authority to properly oversee the conduct of private contractors and has raised the question whether existing rules of domestic law and international law are adequate to ensure their accountability in the event of abuses. This book addresses this second question through the lens of international human rights law and international humanitarian law and offers a systematic analysis of the way in which these two bodies of international law, applicable in time of peace and in the event of armed conflict, may be interpreted and implemented in a way as to fill possible accountability gaps. Human rights and humanitarian law obligations are analysed from the point of view of their applicability to the states involved, to international organisations, to the companies and their individual employees. Access to civil remedies of potential victims and criminal prosecution of private contractors, as well as new policy issues, such as the use of private contractors in the fights against piracy, are also covered in the book.
Keywords:
private military,
security industry,
human rights,
international humanitarian law,
accountability,
civil remedies,
criminal liability,
civil liability,
security,
piracy
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2011 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199604555 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2011 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604555.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Francesco Francioni, editor
Professor of International Law and Human Rights and Co-Director of the Academy of European Law EUI
Author Webpage
Natalino Ronzitti, editor
Professor of International Law, LUISS University School of Law, Rome
Author Webpage
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