Accountability for Private Military and Security Contractors in the International Legal Regime

Abstract

The rapidly growing presence of private military and security contractors (PMSCs) in armed conflict and post-conflict situations in the last decade brought corresponding incidents of serious misconduct by PMSC personnel. The two most infamous events—one involving the firm formerly known as Blackwater and the other involving Titan and CACI—engendered scrutiny of available mechanisms for criminal and civil accountability of the individuals whose misconduct caused the harm. Along a parallel track, scholars and policymakers began examining the responsibility of states and international organizations for the harm that occurred. Both approaches have primarily focused on post-conduct accountability—of the individuals who caused the harm, of the state in which the harm occurred, or of the state or organization that hired the PMSC whose personnel caused the harm. Less attention, however, has been paid to the idea of pre-conduct accountability for PMSCs and their personnel. A broad understanding of “accountability for” PMSCs and their personnel encompasses not only responsibility for harm caused by conduct, but responsibility for hiring, hosting, and monitoring these entities, as well as responsibility to the victims of the harm. This article provides a comprehensive approach for analyzing the existing international legal regime, and whether and to what extent the legal regime provides “accountability for” PMSCs and their personnel. It does so by proposing a practical construct of three phases based on PMSC operations—Contracting, In-the-Field, and Post-Conduct—with which to assess the various bodies of international law.     

Due Diligence Obligations of Conduct: Developing a Responsibility Regime for PMSCs

Abstract

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keep pace with the evolution of states and state-based actors, to which strong Westphalian notions of sovereignty are no longer applicable.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.     

试论民事裁判文书的公信力

公信力是法院裁判文书的生命,一个没有公信力的裁判文书,它虽然具有法律效力,但却没有生命力。应从增强民事裁判文书的公开性;加强判决书的说理,公开法官做出判决结果的心证过程;正确引用法律、法规,充分体现裁判文书的权威性等三方面提高法院民事裁判文书的公信力。     

公安院校大学生文化软实力培育初探

公安院校文化软实力．是指在公安院校环境中大学生通过有组织的学习活动、有意识的自我提高活动或潜移默化的熏陶而形成的一种以社会适应能力、职业核心能力、综合竞争力为主的世界观、价值观、人生观的稳定体系。其内涵可从社会、院校、个人三个层面进行分析。公安院校大学生文化软实力的培育,可通过校园文化建设、教育教学活动和社会实践活动等三大途径进行。     

通过辨别、对比和检验材料中的变化测定文件日期

对一份文件最早制成时间的检验一直以来都是全世界文检界的难题之一。核实可疑文件的制成时间没有统一的方法,目前主要通过对纸张、墨迹、打字机、复印机、打印机、传真机、印刷品,以及笔迹和签名等因素的检验来确定一份文件的制成时间。文件检验人员需要充分利用他们手中的文件的内容及文件周边信息所反映出来的条件和材料,进而得出结论。     

文件检验课程的教学设计方法

文件检验是刑事技术的重要组成部分,也是公安院校刑事技术专业及部队院校保卫工作的必设课程之一。结合该课内容理论性和实践性的特点,精心设计课程教学中的重要环节,才能获得良好的教学效果。     

对日本2011年《男女共同参与白皮书》的解读——以政治领域、科技领域女性参与为重点

2011年6月,日本政府发表了《男女共同参与白皮书》,力求对日本男女共同参与社会的现状以及相关政策做一个全面的总结。本文通过对白皮书的解读,分析了白皮书的基本内容和特点;其中特别关注了白皮书的结构以及政府对男女参与政治领域和科技领域的现状总结和政策目标。     

试论公安文书文本的规范化

公安文书文本的规范化是公安文书规范化的两大要素之一，具有技术规范的属性。它是一种客观需要，是公安文书储存功能和传递方式的最佳形式，具有可操作性、权威性和约束力；从不同角度，可以分为模式规范、原则规范或通用规范、专用规范、借用规范、约定规范等。实现公安文书文本规范化的基本原则是效率、优化和美观等。     

法律文书中制约签名的因素探讨

法律文书中的签名是法律文书法定格式和内容要素之一,签名人通过签名表明意见或态度使法律问题得以解决。面对纷繁复杂的法律问题时,人们似乎更习惯于关注文书格式与签名手续的关系。其实,签名时的心理活动对法律问题的最终解决有不可忽视的作用,鉴于此,本文用写作学原理从文书文本形式、内容现象、签名人三个方面探寻制约法律文书签名的因素,以期扩大法律文书作为写作这一领域的可讨论范围。     

科技论文的投稿策略

为作者的科技论文写作和成功投稿提供借鉴和帮助;以编辑的视角多方面解读影响科技论文投稿命中率的因素;从了解并选择所投刊物,撰写科技论文应有的几个注重,投稿时若干注意事项和策略等三方面分析了科技论文的投稿策略;结论论文投稿有技巧和策略可循,但是作者真正应下工夫的地方,不是囿于方法,也不是囿于投稿策略和人际关系,而是要多参加科研实践,掌握素材,勤于笔耕,保证论文的学术价值。