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Control over private violence is traditionally conceived as falling under the remit of the state and law. Yet, since the 2010s, the regulation of private violence is characterized by a soft law mechanism which enables private security companies to adhere to a business certification rather than a legally binding international treaty. While other regulating options were considered, it is indeed the principle of a technical standardization that prevailed. Based on a sociological approach to norms and international relations, this article underscores that this resulted from struggles between national fields as well as social sectors. It channels attention towards the experts involved in the process: their common juridical habitus and strong cultural and social capital help explain the emergence of a consensus among private and public sectors experts, representing states, private security companies and NGOs. This transnational space structured around competing and allied legal experts accounts for the prominence taken by the option of a market regulation of private security companies – an outcome which cannot be explained solely by a focus on power struggles between states.