The pace of the evolution

Customary LONIAC has begun to develop only in the aftermath of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions in 1949, but since the Nicaragua Judgment of 1986 (see supra 30) Common Article 3 has been universally recognized as a true reflection of customary international law. That being the case, there is no need to dwell in the present chapter on the standing of the various norms enshrined in Common Article 3 (supra 409). It must be taken for granted that each and every one of them is imbued with customary nature. We shall therefore commence our examination of LONIAC norms that have acquired customary status by looking at the supplementary provisions of AP/II (see infra 654 et seq.).

Customary LONIAC norms may develop not only alongside and in connection with treaty law as framed in Common Article 3 and AP/II. Nowadays the zeitgeist is palpably different, compared to the eras when Common Article 3 and even AP/II were negotiated (the late 1940s and 1970s respectively). Since the 1990s we have witnessed the inexorable emergence of a new customary LONIAC, going well beyond existing treaty law and in fact filling some of its gaps. L. Condorelli calls this ‘high speed custom’ (as in high speed trains), and the dynamic development has been veritably phenomenal.