Hersch Lauterpacht’s extraordinary career in international law was launched in 1927 with the publication of Private Law Sources and Analogies of International Law. The Author’s Preface noted “the fact that general principles of law, recognized by civilised States and adopted by customary and conventional international law as a source of decision in international disputes, are for the most part identical with generally recognized principles of private law.” Lauterpacht continued: The adoption, in Article 38(3) of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice, of “general principles of law recognized by civilised States” as a binding— although, it seems, only supplementary— source of decision in the judicial settlement of international disputes signifies that that practice, hitherto unsupported by universal and authoritative international enactment, and regarded by many as derogating from the strictly judicial character of international arbitration, has now received formal approval on the part of practically the whole international community. There lies the outstanding and, to a certain, extent, revolutionary contribution made by the Statute to international law as a whole. This book is, in a sense, a commentary on Article 38(3) of the Statute and a respectful acknowledgment of the great service rendered to the cause of international law by the Committee of Jurists assembled in 1920 at The Hague. As a result of earnest and prolonged discussions, they arrived at a compromise which honours equally the representatives of both Continental and British- American jurisprudence, and places the judicial function of the Court upon a solid foundation.*