Towards an International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers: A View from Inside a Multistakeholder Process

Anne-Marie Buzatu

Sep 2015 · SSR Papers Book 12 · Ubiquity Press

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About this ebook

The use of private security companies (PSCs) to provide security services has been on the rise since the end of the Cold War, with PSCs operating in a number of contexts, including armed conflict and areas where the rule of law has been compromised. The use of private actors to perform services that are traditionally associated with the state is not limited to PSCs, but is emblematic of a growing trend by governments to outsource functions with a view to improving efficiency and cutting budgets. Privatization of public functions can, however, present a number of challenges to existing national and international regulatory and oversight frameworks. In the private security sector these challenges were brought to international attention after high-profile incidents in which PSCs injured civilians revealed difficulties in effectively holding international PSCs accountable. This paper argues that crafting a multistakeholder regulatory approach in which key stakeholders work together to develop standards that are appropriately adapted for the private sector, as well as to create governance and oversight mechanisms to hold these private actors to effective account, helps to fill some of the governance gaps found in traditional regulatory approaches. It recounts the developments leading to the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICOC) and its governance and oversight mechanism, the ICOC Association, offering an example of the development of an initiative which sets new international standards and elaborates a multistakeholder framework and approach to governance for the private security sector. A recent trend of state and non-state clients requiring compliance with the ICOC initiative in their contracts with PSCs offers a new take on binding international regulation of private actors.

About the author

Anne-Marie Buzatu is deputy head of the Public-Private Partnerships Division at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). Working under a mandate of the Swiss government, she led DCAF’s work to support the elaboration of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers from January 2009 to November 2010. She subsequently led the development of the ICOC Association, a multistakeholder governance and oversight mechanism for the ICOC, which began operations in September 2013. Current projects include working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to develop guidance related to security sector governance and reform for multinational companies, as well as supporting better governance approaches for internet/cyber security.

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