The Legality of the Use of Private Military and Security Companies in un Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement Operations

In: Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies
Author: Mohamad Ghazi Janaby 1
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  • 1 University of Babylon, Iraq
Online Publication Date:
04 May 2015
In:
Volume 6: Issue 1
Article Type:
Research Article
Page Count:
147–187
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/18781527-00601002
Keywords:
private military and; security companies (pmsc); peacekeeping; peace enforcement; mercenaries; implied powers; inherent powers; un Security Council; General Assembly; regulation of pmscs

Outsourcing military and security services to the private sector is an emerging trend under international law. The shift to using private military and security companies (pmscs) in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan has brought attention to the role that these companies may play in fulfilling functions that are normally monopolised by States or international organisations. The reliance of the un on pmscs has increased considerably in recent years, leading to the question of the legality of their use in various un operations. This paper focuses on two main aspects of the un’s use of such companies; (i) The engagement of pmscs in peacekeeping operations, either when hired by the un directly or when hired by a State and subsequently seconded to the un; and (ii) The participation of pmscs in peace enforcement measures adopted by the un Security Council according to Chapter vii of the un Charter. This paper argues that the use of pmscs in peacekeeping operations is lawful under international law, while their use in peace enforcement operations is not.

In:
Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies
E-ISSN:
1878-1527
Print ISSN:
1878-1373
Publisher:
Brill | Nijhoff
Cover Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies
  • 6

     Singer, supra note 3, at 92.
  • 13

     On 17 September 2008, 17 States - Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iraq, Poland, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, theUnited Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States of America - finalised the so-called ‘Montreux Document on Pertinent International Legal Obligations and Good Practices for States related to Operations of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict’. For more information see Switzerland Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, ‘The Montreux Document on Private Military and Security Companies’ http://www.eda.admin.ch/psc (last accessed 8 May 2013).
  • 20

     Singer, supra note 15, at 532.
  • 25

     Østensen, supra note 1, at 26.
  • 29

     D. Lilly, ‘The Privatization of Peacekeeping: Prospects and Realities’, Disarmament Forum, No. 3, 2000.
  • 30

     Gantz, supra note 2.
  • 34

     Gantz, supra note 2.
  • 35

     Pattison, supra note 4, at 2.
  • 36

     Gantz, supra note 2.
  • 38

     Spearin, supra note 28.
  • 39

     Gantz, supra note 2; Bures, supra note 3, at 539; Singer, supra note 3, at 185.
  • 43

     Østensen, supra note 1; Singer, supra note 3, at 182.
  • 44

     House of Commons, supra note 2, at 19.
  • 68

     Saura, supra note 63, at 481.
  • 71

     Bures, supra note 3; K.A. O’Brien, ‘pmcs, Myths and Mercenaries: The Debate on Private Military Companies’ 145 rusi Journal 59 (2000); M. Patterson, ‘A Corporate Alternative to United Nations ad hoc Military Deployments’, 13(2) Journal of Conflict & Security Law 215 (2008).
  • 72

     Vaux, supra note 7.
  • 73

     Singer, supra note 3, at 185.
  • 74

     Singer, supra note 28; Østensen, supra note 1; Gantz, supra note 2.
  • 75

     Pingeot, supra note 2.
  • 77

     Pingeot, supra note 2, at 24.
  • 82

     White, supra note 80.
  • 85

     White, supra note 80, at 44.
  • 93

     Engström, supra note 88.
  • 101

     Engström, supra note 88, at 48.
  • 102

     White, supra note 80, at 44.
  • 111

     White, supra note 80, at 48.
  • 112

     Klabbers, supra note 84, at 66.
  • 114

     Seyersted, supra note 110, at 155.
  • 115

     White, supra note 80.
  • 117

     Seyersted, supra note 110, at 156; Akande, supra note 109, at 445.
  • 123

     White, supra note 80, at 51.
  • 126

     Rosand, supra note 124.
  • 128

     Rosand, supra note 124.
  • 135

     House of Commons, supra note 2, at 24.
  • 142

     Sitkowski, supra note 138, at 14.
  • 144

     Schmitt, supra note 18; Voyame, supra note 18; Melzer, supra note 18.
  • 148

     Melzer, supra note 18.
  • 152

     Østensen, supra note 1, at 12.
  • 162

     Kovac, supra note 5, at 323.
  • 173

     Singer, supra note 3, at 98.
  • 176

     Brownlie, supra note 133; E. Lopez-Jacoiste, ‘The un Collective Security System and its Relationship with Economic Sactions and Human Rights’, 14 Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 273 (2010).
  • 187

     1977 Additional Protocol I, supra note 16.

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