Contracting Out Security
Abstract Private security companies (PSCs) currently receive a great deal of attention in the news media, in sensationalist reporting, and increasingly in scholarly books and articles. While the scholarly books and articles make significant contributions to our understanding of this global phenomenon, there are several impediments to analysis that must be recognized and overcome if analysis is to be improved. Three of these impediments are reviewed in this article. The author suggests that US government material is currently available to minimize impediments and offers a framework to make analytical sense of it. Since contracting out is based on contracts, and unless the complexities of awarding and managing contracts are understood, recommendations made to reform the process of contracting out security are unrealistic.
Privately Contracted Military Firms in the Twenty- First Century Reclassifying, Redefining, and Reforming the Way We Fight
Abstract : Privately Contracted Military Firms (PCMFs) are in use throughout the globe by the U.S. government. Their role has become so intertwined with the demands of the Department of Defense (DoD) and that of the Department of State (DoS) that it is now hard to imagine operating in support of U.S. national interests, without them. But such a relationship is not without its pitfalls. The quantities, costs, and functions of today's PCMFs have grown at an astounding rate, and so too, the legal concerns their employment invariably raises. This thesis will address these pitfalls, the inadequacies of the current legal measures designed to resolve them, and recommend steps to correct them. The author suggests that, once these reforms are met, it will legitimize PCMF utilization, facilitate their integration into national security planning, ease domestic perception regarding their existence, and placate international concerns regarding their use. The author further contends, however, that until these obstacles are addressed, no realistic reforms can take place, and the PCMFs will continue to operate in shades of gray.
Introduction to Dutch Law for Foreign Lawyers
Part 1 Dutch legal system: history sources judicial organization legal education and the legal profession classification. Part 2 Private law: family law property law law of obligations representation and procuration legal persons law of succession commercial law air law civil procedure private international law. Part 3 Public law: constitutional law administrative law criminal justice system tax law economic law. Part 4 Labour law. Part 5 Legal philosophy.