How has the Customary IHL study been received by the community of international humanitarian lawyers? The authors of this research have studied government reactions, including formal statements and military manuals, published since the finalization of the study in 2005 to 31 July 2021. The research has also studied judicial decisions by international courts such as the ICTY, ICTR, MICT, ICC, SCSL, ECCC, STL, KSC, ICJ, ITLOS, ECtHR, AfCtHR and domestic courts in various parts of the world. In addition, the authors have also studied the reception of the study by other influential actors such as the ILC, the UN Human Rights Council, UN Commissions of Inquiry and academics. The findings of the study are published in the article “Assessing the authority of the ICRC customary IHL study” in the Review’s edition How Does IHL Develop?

In addition, the authors have produced three datasets on the findings of the empirical research that include the citations of the customary IHL study in expressions of state positions, judgments of international and domestic courts and tribunals, as well as outputs of other influential actors. The dataset spreadsheets can be accessed as a single PDF file by clicking the ‘Download Article PDF’ button on this page.