Above my desk I have a quote from Carl Jung, to which I refer often: ‘The goal is important only as an idea. The essential thing is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime’.1 For their contribution to this opus I am grateful to a number of people. My mentor, Prof. Harmen van der Wilt, whose guidance was like a lighthouse, regardless of whether the skies were clear or dark and stormy. Steady, even, always truthful, ever inspiring, and truly focused. Thank you for your commitment, your insights, and for your generosity with your time. I was supported a great deal in the comparative research I undertook in various countries by a number of generous people. In Germany at the Institut für Kriminalwissenschaften of the Georg August Universit?t in G?ttingen I was welcomed and supported by Alexander Heinze, and am grateful also to Prof. Kai Ambos for his guidance. In the US at Cornell Law School Jens Ohlin provided hours of investigative debate and inspiring exchange of thoughts. I am indebted to him for his philosophical contributions and his all-round support. In Argentina at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires I was welcomed by a warm community of intellectuals, and was supported in particular by Alejandro Chehtman, Hern?n Gullco and Marcello Ferrante. I appreciate all their patience with my stumbling Spanish, and their extremely useful guidance on Argentine law. In Canada I was made to feel especially welcome in what I can only describe as an academic family at McGill Faculty of Law in Montreal. There Frédéric Mégret and Nandini Ramanujam took wonderful care of me as a guest of the Centre of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. I am also grateful to the Hon. Patrick Healy, for his time, advice and candid views. And finally at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver I was treated to rich and conceptually essential debates with James Stewart, to whom I am grateful for his time, and his willingness to help me improve on my arguments in opposition to his.