Non-State Actors in the System of Public International Law: On the Status of Transnational Corporations

The article examines the evolution of the concept of subjects of public international law with a focus on transnational corporations and their potential international legal personality. It distinguishes the sovereign basis of state personality from the functional personality of intergovernmental organizations as derived from constituent instruments and the implied powers doctrine. The study synthesizes major positions in Russian and foreign scholarship regarding the criteria of personality for transnational corporations and maps the principal arguments for and against recognizing them as participants in international legal relations. It outlines three regulatory layers governing corporate conduct: national legislation, bilateral investment treaties, and multilateral instruments of a recommendatory nature. The conclusion argues for international unification of rules defining the rights and obligations of transnational corporations, building on established soft-law standards and agreed mechanisms for engagement with States and intergovernmental organizations.