Engaging Non-State Security Providers: Whither the Rule of Law?

Timothy Donais

doi:10.5334/sta.553

Abstract

The primacy of the rule of law has long been seen as one of the essential principles of security sector reform (SSR) programming, and part of the larger gospel of SSR is that the accountability of security providers is best guaranteed by embedding security governance within a rule of law framework. Acknowledging the reality of non-state security provision, however, presents a challenge to thinking about SSR as merely the extension of the rule of law into the security realm, in large part because whatever legitimacy non-state security providers possess tends to be grounded in extralegal foundations. This paper – more conceptual than empirical in its approach – considers the implications of hybrid forms of security governance for thinking about the relationship between SSR and rule of law promotion, and argues that the rule of law still provides a useful source of strategic direction for SSR programming.

Highlights

The rule of law has long been a core pillar of security sector reform (SSR) programming
This paper explores the role of non-state security provision in SSR contexts against the wider backdrop of an ongoing normative and policy commitment on the part of donors to embedding SSR within a rule of law framework
Nor have they fully come to terms with the reality that, in most cases, both state and non-state security provision will continue to co-exist for an indefinite interim, drawing on a wide range of different sources of legitimacy, offering variable levels of security or insecurity, and forcing citizens – as security consumers – to navigate what are often security terrains of exceptional complexity (Menkhaus 2016: 34)

Summary

Timothy Donais

The primacy of the rule of law has long been seen as one of the essential principles of security sector reform (SSR) programming, and part of the larger gospel of SSR is that the accountability of security providers is best guaranteed by embedding security governance within a rule of law framework. Acknowledging the reality of non-state security provision, presents a challenge to thinking about SSR as merely the extension of the rule of law into the security realm, in large part because whatever legitimacy non-state security providers possess tends to be grounded in extralegal foundations. This paper – more conceptual than empirical in its approach – considers the implications of hybrid forms of security governance for thinking about the relationship between SSR and rule of law promotion, and argues that the rule of law still provides a useful source of strategic direction for SSR programming

Introduction

Findings

Conclusion