The increasing use of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) raises the question of their legal status. Given the close cooperation between states and PMSCs in conflict zones, as well as PMSCs' support to reaching military objectives, it is of particular interest if PMSCs can be lawfully targeted by parties to an armed conflict. Notably relevant for planners and operators, this has not been addressed, as such, in the existing literature.

This article, written by Mr Tobias Vester, Head of Security and Law at the GCSP examines these questions. After outlining the general normative framework and related debates, it analyses the conditions under which PMSCs directly participate in hostilities (DPH). It then discusses conceptual limitations, notably regarding the nexus between DPH and the defence of others and proposes practical dividing lines between defensive services which amount to DPH and those that do not. It then applies the legal tenets to different scenarios. The article concludes by applying the targeting rules under international humanitarian law (IHL) to attacks against PMSC staff.

This piece was published by The Military Law and the Law of War Review.