State responsibility to impose criminal, civil and/or administrative sanctions on offenders and provide remedies to victims

 

• Criminal, civil and/or administrative offenses in the sphere of private military and security services

- Each State Party shall ensure that the acts of carrying out inherently State functions are offenses under its national law.

- Each State Party shall ensure that the unlawful use of force and firearms, unlawful use of certain arms and illicit trafficking in arms by PMSCs and their personnel are punished as criminal offenses under its national law.

- Each State party shall ensure that all activities of PMSCs occurring without the required license and authorization, including the export and import of military and security services are offenses under its national law.

- Each State party shall take such legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures to ensure, in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law, international criminal law and international humanitarian law, that individual criminal responsibility is established and that PMSCs and their personnel are held accountable for any violations of the law, that no recourse is taken to immunity agreements, and that effective remedies are provided to victims.

- In relation to imposing penalties for offenses listed in this article, due consideration should be paid to offenses committed against vulnerable groups. (Art.19)

 

• Liability of legal persons and entities

- Each State Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary, consistent with its legal principles, to establish the liability of legal persons and entities for the offenses established in accordance with this Convention.

- Subject to the legal principles of the State Party, the liability of legal persons may be criminal, civil or administrative, or a combination of these

- Such liability shall be without prejudice to the criminal liability of the natural persons who have actually committed the offenses.

- Each State Party shall, in particular, ensure that legal persons held liable in accordance with this convention are subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal or non-criminal sanctions.(Art.20)

 

• Establishment of jurisdiction

- Each State party shall take such measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction through its domestic law over the offenses set out in this convention, when (a) the offense is committed in the territory of that State; (b) the offence is committed on board a vessel flying the flag of that State or an aircraft registered under the laws of that State at the time the offence is committed; or (c) the offense is committed by a national of that State.

- A State party may also establish its jurisdiction over any of the offenses set out in the convention when (a) the offense is committed against a national of that State; or (b) the offense is committed by a stateless person who has his or her habitual residence in the territory of that State;

- This Convention does not exclude any additional criminal jurisdiction exercised in accordance with national law.(Art.21)

 

• Obligations related to prosecution

- Each State party shall take such measures as are necessary to investigate, prosecute and punish violations of the present Convention, and to ensure effective remedies to victims.

- Each State party, in the interests of justice, shall take such measures as necessary to ensure that no immunity agreement from prosecution for PMSCs and their personnel for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law are enforced.

- The State Party in the territory under whose jurisdiction a person alleged to have committed any offense referred to this convention is found, shall in the cases contemplated in article 21, if it does not extradite him, submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution. (Art.23)

 

• Extradition

- To the extent that the crimes set out in the convention are not mentioned specifically in any extradition treaty existing between States parties, they shall be deemed to be included as extraditable offenses in the treaty. States parties undertake to include such offenses as extraditable offenses in every extradition treaty to be subsequently concluded by them. (Art.24)

 

• Mutual legal assistance

- The States Parties shall afford one another mutual legal assistance in investigations, prosecutions and judicial proceedings in relation to the offenses covered by this Convention. (Art.25)

 

• Transfer of criminal proceedings

- States parties may transfer to one another proceedings for the prosecution of offenses under this convention in cases where such transfer is considered to be in the interests of the proper administration of justice.(Art.26)

 

• International Fund for the rehabilitation of victims

- States parties shall consider establishing an international Fund to be administered by the Secretary-General to provide reparation to victims of offenses under this Convention and /or assist in their rehabilitation;

- The establishment of such a Fund shall be without prejudice to the obligation of PMSCs and/or the individuals criminally liable to directly compensate victims of violations. (Art.28)