Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs

As non-state actors, PMSCs are not embraced by traditional state-dominated doctrines of international law. However, international law has itself failed to keep pace with the evolution of states and state-based actors, to which strong Westphalian notions of sovereignty are no longer applicable. It is...

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Main Author: White, Nigel D.
Format: Article
Published: Routledge 2012
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1965/
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author White, Nigel D.
author_facet White, Nigel D.
author_sort White, Nigel D.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description As non-state actors, PMSCs are not embraced by traditional state-dominated doctrines of international law. However, international law has itself failed to keep pace with the evolution of states and state-based actors, to which strong Westphalian notions of sovereignty are no longer applicable. It is argued that these structural inadequacies stand in the way of international regulation of PMSCs, rather than defects in international human rights and humanitarian law per se. By analyzing understandings of legal responsibility, where such structural issues come to the fore, it is argued that, rather than attempting to resolve the essentially ideological dispute about the inherent functions of a state, regulatory regimes should focus on the positive obligations of states and PMSCs, and the interactions between them. Applying the results of this analysis, current and proposed regulatory regimes are evaluated and their shortcomings revealed.
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spelling nottingham-19652020-05-04T20:21:08Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1965/ Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs White, Nigel D. As non-state actors, PMSCs are not embraced by traditional state-dominated doctrines of international law. However, international law has itself failed to keep pace with the evolution of states and state-based actors, to which strong Westphalian notions of sovereignty are no longer applicable. It is argued that these structural inadequacies stand in the way of international regulation of PMSCs, rather than defects in international human rights and humanitarian law per se. By analyzing understandings of legal responsibility, where such structural issues come to the fore, it is argued that, rather than attempting to resolve the essentially ideological dispute about the inherent functions of a state, regulatory regimes should focus on the positive obligations of states and PMSCs, and the interactions between them. Applying the results of this analysis, current and proposed regulatory regimes are evaluated and their shortcomings revealed. Routledge 2012-12 Article PeerReviewed White, Nigel D. (2012) Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs. Criminal Justice Ethics, 31 (3). pp. 233-261. ISSN 0731-129X http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0731129X.2012.738975 doi:10.1080/0731129X.2012.738975 doi:10.1080/0731129X.2012.738975
spellingShingle White, Nigel D.
Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs
title Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs
title_full Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs
title_fullStr Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs
title_full_unstemmed Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs
title_short Due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for PMSCs
title_sort due diligence obligations of conduct: developing a responsibility regime for pmscs
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1965/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1965/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1965/