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The eighteenth annual report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1963, was transmitted to the Board of Governors on July 11, 1963, by the Acting Chairman of the Executive Board, Mr. Frank A. Southard, Jr. Summarizing the world payments situation, the report indicated that economic activity continued during 1962 to expand in most industrial countries. Exceptions to this general upward trend were recorded in the United Kingdom and Japan and were seen partly as the result of policies directed toward strengthening the balance of payments. In both 1961 and 1962 the value of world trade was some 5 percent higher than in the preceding year, and in 1962 the increase in the value of exports of primary producing countries as a group almost kept pace with that of the manufacturing countries, although declines in the prices of certain products adversely affected some nations.

The sixteenth session of the Administrative Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was held in Geneva from April 22 to May 20, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. Vladimir Senk (Yugoslavia). Mr. Šenk spoke of some of the more important matters which the sixteenth session would have to discuss. He stressed that as the Union came to include more developing countries, technical assistance became increasingly important. He pointed out that, in addition to the help of experts and assistance in the training of their staff, these countries needed aid in obtaining essential materials for the development of their telecommunication networks. He stated that technical assistance in all its forms has gradually become a part of the traditional work of the Union. Turning to financial matters, Mr. Šenk mentioned that it would be necessary to revise the financial regulations of the union.

On September 16, 1959, the International Monetary Fund announced that 40 members, including most recently Bolivia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Libya, Malaya, and Peru, had consented to increases in their Fund's quotas by amounts ranging from 50 to 100 percent. This was in response to a recommendation by the Directors of the Fund arising out of the thirteenth annual meeting of the Governors of the Fund, held in New Delhi in October 1958. The Fund extended to July 31, 1960, the period within which the rest of its 68-nation membership might accept increases in its quotas. Some of these countries had already communicated consents to the Fund which would become effective upon the completion of certain formalities. The Fund's assets, which, as of January 31, 1959, amounted to the equivalent of $9.2 billion, would be enlarged by the recommended increases by the equivalent of $5.8 billion.

The Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) held its 130th session in Geneva from November 15 through 19, 1955, under the chairmanship of Mr. A. H. Brown (Canada). After deciding that the 40th session of the ILO Conference should open in Geneva on June 5, 1957, and noting that, in addition to the regular agenda items, the questions of forced labor, weekly rest in commerce and offices, and living and working conditions of indigenous populations in independent countries were likely to be carried over from the 39th session, the Governing Body considered several documents submitted to it by the Director-General (Morse) relating to possible further agenda items for the 40th session. The Governing Body, after some discussion, decided to add to the agenda two new items: 1) discrimination in the field of employment and occupation, and 2) conditions of employment of plantation workers.

The 125th session of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization was held in Geneva on May 28 and 29, 1954, with Mr. A. M. Malik (Pakistan) presiding. Preliminary consideration was given to the agenda for the 39th session of the ILO Conference (1956), which, it was decided, would be comprised of the Director-Generals report, financial and budgetary questions, and information on the application of Conventions and Recommendations, The Director-General was requested to submit to the November session of the Governing Body reports dealing with the national law and practices of member states in the fields of (1) weekly rest in commerce and offices, (2) living and working conditions of indigenous populations in independent countries, and (3) forced labor. He was also requested to provide a general note on the conditions of plantation workers and on discrimination in the field of employment and occupation.

The thrust of this Paper is to analyse the transformation of international custom construction and creation from the model of state practice supported by opinio iuris to a new concept reflected in the judicial decision of the international criminal tribunals, with the main emphasis being on the case law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The following questions are examined in analysing the interpretation, application, and in some instances, also the creation of customary international norms: from which sources do the judges look for evidence of customary international law? Is the requisite of actual state practice diminishing? What is the significance of international treaties, reports of international committees, and international case-law as sources of custom? Does the case law of the tribunals show that the role of the judge is more prevalent than traditionally in the formation of customary international law, at least in the area of international criminal law? The first part of the paper offers an analysis of customary law in the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg, which, along with many post-Second World War legal instruments, case law, and academic commentary, has contributed to and clarified the content of customary norms in international criminal law. The second part reviews the decisions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in relation to the concept, formation, and context of customary norms. In addition, the aim is to examine if the approach of the Tribunal on the construction of customary norms has changed during its period of functioning. The role of the judge in construction and in some instances, creation of customary international norms is discussed with references to the judicial decisions of the Yugoslavia Tribunal. I conclude that the dynamic approach adopted by judges in the construction of customary law in some cases of the Yugoslavia Tribunal is not unprecedented in the decisions of international courts. The third part discusses the problem of conflicting norms that may arise in the application and construction of customary criminal norms in international criminal tribunals. First, I conduct a limited conceptual and historical analysis of the principles of legality, the nullum crimen sine lege and the nulla poena sine lege principles, and I attempt to answer the substantive issues: how can the principles of legality be retained in the application of customary international norms by the international judge, and whether the progressive formation of custom (moving away from the requirement of 'constant and uniform state practice' supported by opinio iuris) destabilises legal certainty, which should be especially endorsed when an individual's (here meaning the accused) freedom is at issue? The final dilemma in relation to conflicting norms is that of deducing international criminal norms that give rise to individual criminal responsibility directly from treaties that were intended to be applied between the state parties. I conclude this paper by stating that the judges not only interpret, but also have an impact on the formation of customary international law because their decisions can be seen as evidence of (international) practice or as a reflection of opinio juris. Finally, this paper shows that there is a definite need for greater consistency in the formation of customary international norms in international criminal tribunals.