JUDr. František Tóth
Doctoral project
Status of Private Military and Security Companies under International Humanitarian Law (successfully defended in April 2025)
Link: www.theses.cz
Description
František’s Ph.D. thesis analyzed the status of private military and security companies under international humanitarian law. His thesis focused specifically on PMSCs as collective entities actively participating in armed conflicts. Importantly, František also examined the corporate nature of PMSCs, as well as recent international initiatives aimed at establishing international regulation of PMSCs and their activities.
Education and professional experience
František graduated from the Pan-European University, Faculty of Law, in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 2018. He completed his master’s degree with a thesis on the international law aspects of combating terrorism. In 2021, he defended his rigorosum thesis on foreign terrorist fighters in international law at the Faculty of Law, Palacký University in Olomouc, thereby earning the degree Doctor Iuris (JUDr.). In April 2025, František successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis and earned a Ph.D. degree at the same faculty.
In addition to his academic career, František has practical experience in international law. In 2018, he completed an internship at the Centre for International Law at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. In 2020, he completed an internship at the European Parliament in Brussels.
From 2020 to 2024, František worked as a Legal Advisor in the International Law Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic. In this role, he delivered various lectures to members of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic on topics related to international law. He also had the opportunity to attend several courses in public international law, including courses on international humanitarian law at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo, Italy.
Currently, František works at the Office of the Public Defender of Rights in Bratislava, Slovakia, focusing on human rights.
Research fields and expertise
František’s research interests include international humanitarian law, international law on the use of force, and international criminal law. He has also undertaken a short research stay at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law.
Last contributions comprise
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Dissertation Thesis: Status of Private Military and Security Companies under International Humanitarian Law. Palacký University in Olomouc, Faculty of Law (2024). Available here.
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TÓTH, František. The Legal Status of Private Military and Security Companies under International Humanitarian Law (original in Slovak: Právny status súkromných vojenských a bezpečnostných spoločností podľa medzinárodného humanitárneho práva). In: ŠMIGOVÁ, K. (ed.) a kol. Medzinárodné humanitárne právo v ozbrojených konfliktoch a právnom poriadku Slovenskej republiky, Slovak Society of International Law (2022).
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TÓTH, František. Command Responsibility for Crimes Committed by Private Military and Security Companies, Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law, 2022, Vol. 13, p. 207 – 222
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TÓTH, František. Private Military and Security Companies and International Responsibility: Examining the Attributability of PMCS’s Conduct to State and International Organizations during United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, Slovak Yearbook of International Law, 2022, Vol. XI.
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Rigorosum Thesis: Foreign Terrorist Fighters in Public International Law. Palacký University in Olomouc, Faculty of Law (2021). Available here.
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TÓTH, František. United Nations Use of Private Military and Security Companies In the Context of Peacekeeping Operations, Slovak Yearbook of International Law, 2021, Vol. X, p. 45 - 66
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TÓTH, František. The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and International Law – Is There a Legal Basis? Slovak Journal of International Law, Volume X (2021).
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TÓTH, František. Deprivation of citizenship of foreign terrorist fighters (original in Slovak: Odnímanie štátneho občianstva zahraničným teroristickým bojovníkom). In: ONDŘEJ, J. (ed.): Postavení jednotlivce v mezinárodním právu. Proměny (vývoj) právního postavení jednotlivce v mezinárodním právu, Charles University in Prague (2020).