Control and Regulation of Private Security Providers in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

States and different international players have drafted legal frameworks to adequately regulate the phenomenon of privatization of security. Among these initiatives is the Project for a Possible Convention on Private Military and Security Companies, prepared with guidance from the United Nations Human Rights Council. The objective of this proposed convention is to provide a universal framework to regulate these companies.

The United Nations Regional Center for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) has studied this Proposed Convention and contrasted it with existing national regulations. The objective of this study is to identify whether and how States already comply with some of the provisions contained in this proposal.

Based on the study of national private security law, UNLIREC has contrasted it with the Convention Proposal identifying the different items in this document that are referred to in the different national regulations from various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

As a result of this legal contrast, it can be observed that laws in some States in the region include significant legal aspects put forth in the Proposed Convention, such as licenses, registry and training. Other States go beyond that, stipulating specific regulations that can be noted. Others, on the contrary, lack any provisions regarding control and regulation of private security providers.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/rpsp.v1i1.1392