# Geneva Conventions Act 1957, Paragraph 2


A mercenary is any person who:
(a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;
(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;
(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;
(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;
(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and
(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/5-6/52/schedule/FIFTH/part/III/chapter/15/paragraph/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/geneva-conventions-act-1957/schedule-FIFTH/part-III/chapter-15/paragraph-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.