Customary law study launched under African Union auspices

The study shows that customary international humanitarian law has expanded the scope of protection for victims of non-international armed conflict beyond what is provided for in treaty law, such as the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.

While treaty law is based on written conventions, customary international humanitarian law derives from the practice of States as expressed, for example, in military manuals, national legislation and official statements. A rule is considered binding customary international humanitarian law if it reflects the widespread, representative and uniform practice of States accepted as law.

The ICRC expects the study to be widely used in the training of military personnel and the drafting of domestic legislation. It is hopeful that scholars and government experts will use it as a basis for discussion in connection with challenges currently being made to the applicability of international humanitarian law.

The International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent commissioned the ICRC to carry out the study in 1995. ICRC legal staff, experts on various legal systems, academics and specialists from governments and international organizations spent over eight years reviewing the practices of States around the world. They also reviewed international sources such as the United Nations, the African Union, regional organizations and international tribunals.

At today’s launch, African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs Julia D. Joiner and ICRC Vice-President Jacques Forster presented the study, published by Cambridge University Press, to representatives of African Union member States, t he diplomatic community and international organizations, and to African academics. The event, which is part of the worldwide launch of the study, was chaired by Ambassador Bruno Zidouemba, chairperson of the African Union Permanent Representative’s Sub-Committee on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons.