A/HRC/30/47 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council decided, in its resolution 15/26, to establish an openended intergovernmental working group with the mandate to consider the possibility of elaborating an international regulatory framework, including the option of elaborating a legally binding instrument on the regulation, monitoring and oversight of the activities of private military and security companies, including their accountability, taking into consideration the principles, main elements and draft text as proposed by the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination. 2. In its resolution 22/33, the Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the open-ended intergovernmental working group for a further period of two years in order for it to undertake and fulfil the mandate as outlined in paragraph 77 of its report on its second session (A/HRC/22/41). The Council also requested the working group to present its recommendations to the Council at its thirtieth session. Those recommendations, which are based on deliberations held at the working group’s third and fourth sessions, are contained in section V below. 3. On 26 March 2015, the Human Rights Council decided, in its resolution 28/7, to extend the mandate of the open-ended intergovernmental working group for a further period of two and a half years in order for it to undertake and fulfil its mandate, as contained in resolution 22/33. 4. The open-ended intergovernmental working group has held four sessions.1 Its fourth session, held from 27 April to 1 May 2015, was opened by the Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch, on behalf of the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. She highlighted several developments that had occurred since the third session, including the establishment by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 26/9 of an open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights. She also said that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) would shortly publish a progress report on legal options and practical measures to improve access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuses (as requested in Council resolution 26/22),2 which is intended to contribute to a more effective implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (see A/HRC/17/31, annex).3 5. The Deputy High Commissioner stressed that private military and security companies had a responsibility to respect human rights, as stipulated in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. That might include implementing training procedures for employees, establishing grievance procedures in cases of alleged abuses and conducting regular monitoring to ensure adequate oversight, immediate cessation of abuses and accountability. If cases of human rights abuses occurred, States had the obligation to ensure that they were referred to the authorities concerned for investigation, prosecution and reparation. From a human rights perspective, she stressed the importance of ensuring 1 2 3 See summaries of first session (23–27 May 2011, A/HRC/WG.10/1/4), second session (13–17 August 2012, A/HRC/22/41) and third session (21–25 July 2014, A/HRC/WG.10/3/2). More information is available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/OHCHRstudyondomesticlawremedies.aspx. Endorsed by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 17/4. 3