Book excerpt: The book is a study of the rules of procedure of international conferences. It examines the legal basis of these rules of procedure and the history of their development since the end of the Second World War. The central part of the work consists of an examination of the practical application of rules of procedure at international conferences. The book also compares the application of rules at conferences with the relevant practice of the UN General Assembly, and the assemblies of international organisations such as the WHO and ILO. The book examines whether certain procedural rules and applications have become so well established that they have by now attained the status of customary international law.