A/HRC/15/25 Part IV State responsibility to impose criminal, civil and/or administrative sanctions on offenders and provide remedies to victims Article 19 Criminal, civil and/or administrative offences in the sphere of private military and security services 1. Each State party shall ensure that the acts of carrying out inherently State functions, as specified in article 9 of this Convention by PMSCs and their personnel are offences under its national law. 2. 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, pursuant to articles 8, 10, 11 and 18 of this Convention, are punished as criminal offences under its national law. 3. Each State party shall ensure that all activities of PMSCs occurring without the required licence and authorization, including the export and import of military and security services, pursuant to articles 14 and 15 of this Convention, are offences under its national law. 4. Each State party shall take such legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures as 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. 5. In relation to imposing penalties for offences established in this article, due consideration should be paid to offences committed against vulnerable groups. Article 20 Liability of legal persons and entities 1. 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 offences established in accordance with article 19 of this Convention. 2. 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. 3. Such liability shall be without prejudice to the criminal liability of the natural persons who have actually committed the offences. 4. Each State party shall, in particular, ensure that legal persons held liable in accordance with this article are subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal or non-criminal sanctions, including fines, economic sanctions, prohibitions of further employment, obligation to provide restitution and/or compensation to the victims. GE.10-15155 31