International Responsibility and Accountability of the Corporation: International Initiatives for Holding Corporations to Account and their Viability with regard to Private Military and Security Companies

Abstract

While there has been much focus elsewhere on PMSC-specific regulatory projects, as business actors, there is no reason to suggest that PMSCs are, or indeed ought to be, excluded from the scope of broader Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. This report identifies and evaluates the international CSR initiatives which may encompass PMSC behaviour. It describes some historical CSR initiatives at the UN but focuses, in particular, on the recent work of the UN’s Global Compact, the OECD and European Union. It concludes that both the Global Compact and OECD offer viable soft law options for regulating PSMC behaviour.