While preparing my doctoral dissertation under the direction of Professor Georges Abi-Saab at the beginning of my career in public international law, I was admonished by him that the most important part of preparing a dissertation -or any serious writing -occurred while "walking in the park", not while seated at a desk in the library. "Walking in the park" was his phrase for stressing that scholarly work was not simply the recitation of facts or repetition of opinions of others, but rather

more »

... nal reflections on fundamental issues -and walking in the park was a good way to reflect. Professor Abi-Saab taught his students the lesson that we are called as scholars to our own original and personal insights. And indeed, personal, original and profound insights have been his own hallmarks, both in his teaching and in his writings, most notably in the General Course on Public International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law in 1987. Abi-Saab has not only been a brilliant teacher, a judge in many international disputes and an inspired writer on international law, but he has been even more to his former students: he has followed our careers, recommended us for positions, maintained his interest in our subsequent work and become a friend to many of us. No wonder that we are a coterie of former students who have never forgotten his influence as we ourselves have gone on to careers in international law. This short essay is dedicated to him as an expression of my own gratitude for all that he has given me intellectually and personally. He has been an important influence in my life and a friend, and I, like so many other former students, am deeply grateful to him. L. Boisson de Chazoumes and V. Gowlland-Debbas (eds.), The International Legal System in Quest of Equity and Universality I L'ordre juridique international, un systeme en quete d'equite et d'universalite, Liber