Research On The Legal Status Of Employees Of Private Military Security Companies From The Perspective Of International Humanitarian Law

1990s and the beginning of the 21 st century have witnessed an increase in the num ber of private m ilitary and security companies operating in situ ations of armed conflict.Because there isno clearly define d legal status of their em ployees under international humanitarian law,some schol arsdenied their legal status and asserted that there is a legal vacuum in the law when it comes to their operations.This article,after examining the current le gal status of international humanitarian law and recent international documents concerning the st atus of private military and security companies' employees,tries to m ake it clear.This article consists of 4 parts,first of which is a background introduction about p rivate military and secu rity companies' employees,and the legal issue.The second part focuses thediscussion on the legal status of private m ilitary and s ecurity companies' employee's legal status under current international hum anitarian law,whose m ain component are Geneva conventions,to see whether the em ployees are mercenaries,combatants,or civilians.The third part mainly focuses on the Montreux Document,which is the production of International Committee of the Red Cross,to see the cla rifications on the sta tus of employees.After the exam ination,conclusions can be made.The legal status of private military and security companies under international humanitarian law exists and can be determ ined,and their acts must respect and follow international humanitarian law.