The regulation of mercenary and private security-related activities under South African law compared to other legislations and conventions

[摘要] Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) have become increasinglyimportant actors since the end of the Cold War. They provide a wide range of servicesand are therefore difficult to classify. Many view them as new front companies formercenaries, which this thesis argues is not the case.Few states have put in place legislation to deal with the problems caused bythese companies, and they are therefore generally not accountable to states. This isproblematic because their services are within an area where states have traditionallyhad monopoly. This thesis studies the new South African legislation, the Prohibitionof Mercenary Activities and Regulation of Certain Activities in Country of ArmedConflict Act of 2006, which was put in place in order to ban mercenaries and regulatethe services offered by the private military and security companies based in thecountry. By comparing it to the older South African legislation, the thesis evaluatesthe extent to which the new legislation has been able to close loopholes inherent in theold legislation.The new South African legislation is also compared to the internationalconventions which bans mercenaries. By banning these actors, South Africa is verymuch in line with the international community when it designed the conventions.However, PNSCs are not mercenaries.The thesis then compares the new South African legislation to the domesticregulation in place in the United States of America. It finds that despite having manyof the same weaknesses as the South African legislation, it is more likely that theAmerican regulation will be abided by than the South African. This is due to thepositive relationship between the US government and American PMSCs, and the factthat the government is a major client of the companies. South Africa does not enjoythe same positive relationship with its companies.Finally, the new South African legislation is compared to the UK Green Paperof 2002, which presented options of how to deal with the companies. The ban onmercenaries put in place by the new South African legislation was discouraged in theGreen Paper. The licensing regime (as in the USA) that was proposed by the GreenPaper, however, is similar to the authorisation scheme established in South Africa.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University