Since the early 1970s, the steady deterioration of the natural environment has given rise to widespread awareness of man's destructive impact on nature.

This awareness of the vital importance for humanity of a healthy environment and the determined efforts of numerous environmental protection agencies have led over the years to the adoption of a large body of laws for the protection and preservation of the natural environment.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the normative character of custom in international humanitarian law (IHL), on the basis of the theory and jurisprudence of public international law, in order to arrive at a better understanding of the conduct of States in conflict situations. In so doing, an attempt will be made to determine the possibilities for developing custom in IHL, especially in view of the increasing concern shown by international public opinion for the plight of victims of armed conflicts. The paper will begin with a review of the questions raised by custom as an independent source of humanitarian law (point 1) and go on to take a closer look at the constituent elements of custom in humanitarian law (point 2). It will end with a comparative study of the two approaches to custom in IHL, concentrating on the consequences that the development of custom may have in the future (point 3).

In May 1991, Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC, spent some time in Greece at the invitation of the Hellenic Red Cross (see IRRC, No. 283, July–August 1991). While there, he was asked by the Jean-Gabriel Eynard Greek-Swiss League to give a lecture in connection with the 700th anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Confederation. The subject of the lecture was “The ICRC's humanitarian mandate as reflected in the light of its activities in Greece and throughout the world”. The President's purpose was to remind his hearers of the work done in Greece by Swiss delegates of the ICRC. who might be regarded as “humanitarian Hellenists”, and. in his words, “to retrace some stages in the journey made by the International Committee of the Red Cross in company with the Hellenes, in order to throw light on certain aspects of the beautiful and difficult mission of the Red Cross”.

A headquarters agreement was signed on 30 October 1991 between H.E. Sheikh Sabah Salem al Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, and Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC, to pave the way for the opening of an ICRC regional delegation for the Arabian peninsula. In addition to Kuwait itself, the delegation, which will have its headquarters in Kuwait City, will cover Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The agreement will enter into force once it has been ratified by the Council of Ministers in Kuwait.

At the invitation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, plenipotentiary representatives of the Yugoslav Federal Executive Council, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Serbia and the Federal Army met in Geneva on 26 and 27 November 1991 to find solutions to the various matters of humanitarian concern arising from the conflict in Yugoslavia. The meeting gave substance to the declaration of respect for international humanitarian law made by the Presidents of the six Republics in The Hague on 5 November.