Chapter

The International Committee of the Red Cross and custom

Iris Müller

International organisations, non-state actors, and the formation of customary international law

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2020

p. 306-320

English

Because of the non-universal adherence to the Additional Protocols of the Geneva Conventions, customary international humanitarian law (IHL) is often still of decisive importance in the regulation of today's armed conflicts, complementing treaty law as an equally relevant source of international law. Questions related to customary international law - and especially customary IHL - have therefore long been of importance to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The publication of its study on 'Customary International Humanitarian Law' in 2005 is a testament to that. This chapter is intended to address two main points: first, it gives an overview of the ICRC's experience in the identification of customary IHL, related to its work on the study. Second, it addresses specific questions concerning the role of non-state actors in the formation of customary IHL.

• International organisations, non-state actors, and the formation of customary international law / ed. by Sufyan Droubi and Jean d'Aspremont