The sudden and tragic death of Philippe Fouchard, together with several members of his family, in an aircrash off Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, left the world of international commercial arbitration deeply stunned, saddened and bereft of one of its leading scholars.

Philippe Fouchard's lifelong commitment to law began at the University of Dijon in France, where he obtained his doctorate in 1963. He commenced his career in university teaching shortly afterwards at the University of Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, from where he returned to Dijon before taking up a post in Africa again, this time at the University of Tunis in Tunisia. In 1980, after a further spell at the University of Dijon, he was appointed professor at the French university Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), where he remained until his retirement in 2002. It was during his years at Paris II that his close ties with ICC developed.

Besides acting as arbitrator in many ICC cases, Philippe Fouchard was a member of the Council of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and a frequent speaker at PIDA seminars and other Institute events. He was also an active member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and in the 1990s chaired a working party on the status of the arbitrator. He masterminded the working party's report, which provided a comprehensive survey of the rights and duties of arbitrators vis-à-vis parties, under national laws and institutional rules.1 In addition to studying the relationship between the arbitrator and the parties, he also gave much attention to that between the arbitrator and the arbitration institution. His masterly analysis of both relationships remains an authoritative study on the subject.2

Philippe Fouchard's knowledge of case law relating to arbitration was vast. As editor of the French legal journal, Revue de l'arbitrage, he was responsible for the publication of innumerable state court decisions, accompanied by commentaries that have helped to shape the development of law in this field. He acted as a bridge between the French state courts and the ICC International Court of Arbitration, informing the latter regularly of decisions that had a bearing on ICC arbitration, invariably accompanying them with perceptive comments and valuable reflections.

Philippe Fouchard's vision went far beyond the French legal tradition, however. Countless are the students, not only in France but also in several other countries, whose minds he opened to international legal instruments and practices. For those at postgraduate level, he regularly organized arbitration seminars at the ICC International Secretariat, which brought them into contact with the international business world and gave them an opportunity to put their knowledge into practice in mock cases.

Philippe Fouchard's generosity of spirit and his commitment to the study and advancement of international trade law won him esteem and affection in many parts of the world and will remain an inspiration to those who follow in his path.

1
'Final Report on the Status of the Arbitrator' (1996) 7:1 ICC ICArb Bull 27.

2
P. Fouchard, 'Relationships between the Arbitrator and the Parties and the Arbitral Institution' in The Status of the Arbitrator, ICC ICArb. Bull. Special Supplement (Paris: ICC Publishing, 1995) 12.