To legislate or not to legislate, that is the question

Abstract: This essay presents the contemporary research debate on if and how to regulate the use of PMSCs. Providing an extensive overview of the current arguments for and against the regulation of this market, this essay focuses specifically on the legal dimension of this question. Presenting arguments for and against new legislation in this area, the essay investigates the question of applicability of existing international conventions against mercenaries and the problem with classification of the PMSCs. Further, the essay attempts to provide an explanation for the current shape of the research debate. Confined to using the limited amount of international instruments and because of the extreme lack of transparency regarding the state use of PMSCs, it is a difficult subject to investigate. Since this area of research is fairly new, it has not yet developed a verifiable theoretical base. Instead, discussions focus primarily on if the current legislation is applicable to the corporate entities or the individual employees. In a very simplified analysis, two camps seem to be formed, with one side advocating that the current rules can be applied, while the other side regards new legislation as a necessity. Other debated topics include immunity and impunity for the PMSCs, the relevance of the debate of individual responsibility and applicability of the conventions against mercenaries and the reasons for the shape of the current debate regarding legislationg.