A/HRC/15/25 PP 23: Being of the opinion that effective protection requires appropriate national and international legislation in order to adopt and implement mechanisms to ensure enforcement, PP 24: Considering the urgency for States parties to agree on international minimum legal standards to regulate the activities of PMSCs, Have agreed as follows: Part I General Provisions Article 1 Purpose 1. Bearing in mind the fundamental principles of international law on the prohibition of the threat and use of force and on the equal sovereignty of States, the purposes of the present convention are: (a) To reaffirm and strengthen State responsibility for the use of force and reiterate the importance of its monopoly of the legitimate use of force within the comprehensive framework of State obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, and to provide remedies for violations of human rights; (b) To identify those functions which are inherently State functions and which cannot be outsourced under any circumstances; (c) To regulate the activities of PMSCs and subcontractors; (d) To promote international cooperation between States regarding licensing and regulation of the activities of PMSCs in order to more effectively address any challenges to the full implementation of their human rights obligations including the right to selfdetermination; (e) To establish and implement mechanisms to monitor the activities of PMSCs and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in particular any illegal or arbitrary use of force committed by PMSCs, to prosecute the perpetrators and to provide effective remedies to the victims. 2. In the implementation of the Convention, States parties shall take all necessary legislative, judicial and administrative measures pursuant to existing or emerging provisions of their domestic laws to ensure that PMSCs do not engage in illegal activities or in arbitrary use of force. Article 2 Definitions If not specified separately or implied differently, for the purposes of the present Convention: (a) Private Military and/or Security Company (PMSC): refers to a corporate entity which provides on a compensatory basis military and/or security services by physical persons and/or legal entities; GE.10-15155 21