Regulation Of The Private Military And Security Company

Since1990s, Private Military and Security Company (hereinafter referred to as"PMSC") began to rise up because of national arms reductions, military serviceprivatization and security vacuum. With the exposure of Abu Ghraib torture andBlackwater incident, the international community has made a determination toregulate PMSC and its personnel.However, PMSC and its personnel still are wandering at the edge of law inreality. First of all, PMSC’s definition is not unified which leads to many confusion.Secondly, the legal status of PMSC’s personnel is not clear, which not only impactspersonnel’ rights and obligations but also influences the protection of other personnelduring armed conflict. Finally, the domestic and international community lackeffective regulation, supervision and accountability of PMSC and its personnel. Thisthesis tries to probe into PMSC’s definition and advocates defining the legal status ofPMSC’s personnel through case analysis. After combing the status quo with thedefects of the domestic and international law relating to PMSC regulation, the thesisadvocates not only self-discipline from the company and the industry, but alsodomestic and international regulatory framework in order to tackle with PMSC.Besides the introduction and the conclusion, the thesis is divided into five parts:The introduction introduces the necessity of regulating PMSC and its personnel.The first part expounds the meaning, characteristics of PMSC and reasons for itsspring up, then provides an overview of China with regard to PMSC. The second part discusses the legal status of PMSC’s personnel. Analyzing onwhether the personnel of PMSC meet the requirements of mercenaries, combatants orcivilians and concluding that the status of the personnel of PMSC should bedetermined by international humanitarian law, on a case-by-case basis.The third part explores the accountability of PMSC and their personnel’s illegalacts. First of all, international and domestic law are inefficient in exercisingjurisdiction over PMSC personnel’s personal responsibility. Secondly, it introduceslegal practices of USA where PMSC bears responsibility. Finally this part discussesthe possibility of a hiring state who shoulder state responsibility caused by PMSC.The fourth part introduces the status quo, advantages and disadvantages ofPMSC regulation at international and domestic levels. The former part is aboutinternational documents and UN efforts in regulating PMSC, the later partemphatically analyses three kinds of legislative modes, namely South Africa,American and Swiss national regulatory framework.The fifth part put forward the path on the regulation of PMSC. Continuousefforts need to be made by companies and industries so as to promote self-discipline.The domestic law shall establish licensing, mandatory review and report and theprosecution mechanism. The present international law should be revised or newbinding conventions should be established.The conclusion part is the summary of the main points of this thesis.