When the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts was officially opened on 20 February 1974 by the Swiss Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Pierre Graber, much preparatory work had preceded this event. Some of this was recorded in earlier Volumes of this Yearbook. We will first continue this record with a description of the events which took place since the last report (June 1972) and then describe the proceedings of the Diplomatic Conference itself.

1. When noting the arbitral award of 2 July 1956 of Messieurs Ripert and Panchaud in the case between the Société Européenne d'Etudes et d'Entreprises and the Yugoslav Government, it was not foreseen that this case would lead to so many decisions of municipal courts in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands, dealing with questions of State immunity and of execution of arbitral awards.

During the last century the use of water in Western Europe has increased enormously as the result of the growth of the population and the expansion of industrial and agricultural activities. At the same time and for the same reason the quality of the available fresh water resources has also rapidly deteriorated. The river Rhine in particular, once so often praised for its beauty, is nowadays, especially in its downstream sections, little more than an open sewer. This river has become seriously polluted with organic substances, chloride, heavy metals and other chemical pollutants. In recent years moreover a new form of pollution has made its appearance, namely the heating of the water through the discharge of cooling water by (nuclear) power stations. The heavy pollution of the Rhine not only affects the ecological balance but also other interests, such as the supply of drinking water, the use of the water for industrial purposes, agriculture, horticulture and recreation.

The text of this paragraph is divided into two parts, each corresponding to the two kinds of obstacles which, at the time, stood in the way of the free exercise of navigation on the Rhine.

The most remarkable event during the 59th session of the International Labour Conference in 1974 was undoubtedly the refusal to adopt the Report of the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. This is all the more noteworthy when one realizes that this has never before happened in the history of the International Labour Organisation.

As a rule the Application Committee Report is adopted without taking a vote, despite the divergent views often expressed when the Report is discussed in the plenary session of the Conference. Only on very rare occasions has a vote been necessary (always resulting in adoption of the Report), while speakers sometimes simply indicated in the plenary discussion that they would abstain. Since the adoption of the Report of the Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations is the yearly culmination in the regular supervision of on the implementation of ILO standards, the non-adoption of the Report in 1974 could have serious repercussions in the future for the whole regular supervisory system of the ILO and consequently for the development of international law.

During the reporting period, May 1973 - May 1974, discussions and negotiations in the field of arms control and disarmament continued in the different forums, but new agreements have not emerged from those deliberations so far. The purpose of this note is merely to highlight the trends perceptible in the negotiating bodies.