49 ISSN 1019-3316, Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2020, Vol. 90, No. 1, pp. 49–55. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2020. Russian Text © The Author(s), 2020, published in Vestnik Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, 2020, Vol. 90, No. 1, pp. 47–55. International Legal Status of Private Military Companies A. V. Manoilo a, * and A. Ya. Zaytsev a, ** ,# a Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia * e-mail: cyberhurricane@yandex.ru ** e-mail: zayts214@rambler.ru Received May 11, 2019; revised August 30, 2019; accepted September 18, 2019 Abstract—The modern world with constantly emerging international contradictions and military conflicts attempts to react adequately to existing challenges. To this end, private military companies (PMCs) have become increasingly in demand by states, multinational corporations, and international organizations. Employees of these companies differ fundamentally from classical mercenaries: PMCs as corporate entities contract legally hired parties. Interaction with participants in international relations allows private military companies to act independently; however, the documents required to regulate their activities are absent, entailing extremely negative consequences. This article gives a history of the PMC phenomenon, considers the current situation involving their participation in armed conflicts, and analyzes the existing international legal documents, which may become prototypes of the legislative framework for PMCs. Keywords: private military companies (PMCs), international legal documents, mercenaries, armed conflicts. DOI: 10.1134/S1019331620010098 The number of armed clashes has increased sharply after the collapse of the bipolar world and the end of the Cold War. Various levers and means are used in both regional and international conflicts. One way to achieve set goals is to engage private military compa- nies (PMCs). Having emerged in the second half of the 20th century, today they have become integral par- ticipants in military operations across the world. Vari- ous international organizations, particularly the United Nations and NATO, use PMC services, but the absence of control over these companies makes the current situation fraught with many negative circum- stances. The large-scale use of PMCs in military and peace- keeping operations [1]; the delegation of the right to armed violence to them, a right that previously belonged only to sovereign states and individual inter- governmental international organizations; and the voluntary refusal of states to exercise traditional func- tions in favor of outsourcing have led to a loss of con- trol over the security sphere and have created condi- tions for its partial or total privatization by private mil- itary companies in the future. A very dangerous trend is observed that may lead to the loss of the state monopoly on the application of armed violence and to the invading of this sphere by various nongovernmen- tal players in international relations, not only PMCs. Private military companies are bound by obliga- tions with their employers: authorities, as well as vari- ous state and civil entities. In addition, in solving mil- itary security problems on behalf of the governments of various countries, PMCs remain primarily com- mercial entities, their main goal being to maximize commercial profits and minimize costs. This is their qualitative difference from governmental entities, which are responsible before their government, and the government, in turn, before the people. Therefore, PMCs, to which states delegate the right to violence for a while, should constantly be in the focus of civil and parliamentary control. However, this control is absent in many cases, and PMC activities in conflict zones are, in fact, uncontrolled. Therefore, the devel- opment of an international legislative act to legalize the status of PMCs is acute today. To clarify the international status of private military companies and analyze their activities, it is necessary, first, to consider the content of the term PMC. The Montreux Document, developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2008, states [2, p. 9], [PMCs] are private business entities that provide mili- tary and/or security services, irrespective of how they describe themselves. Military and security services include, in particular, armed guarding and protection of persons and objects, such as convoys, buildings, and # Andrei Viktorovich Manoilo, Dr. Sci. (Pol.), is a Professor in the Department of Russian Politics, Faculty of Political Science, Mos- cow State University. Alexander Yaroslavovich Zaytsev is a Teach- ing and Learning Specialist in the Department of Russian Poli- tics, Faculty of Political Science, Moscow State University. Review