From its beginnings as a practical response to the needs of trading partners in different countries, international commercial arbitration has grown into a branch of legal science in its own right. It is the subject of an increasingly abundant literature and has found a place in many university curricula. This welcome development owes much to the serious scholarly attention it has been given during recent decades. Out of the rich exchanges that have taken place amongst practitioners and academics a universal discipline has emerged that year-by-year acquires increasing numbers of adherents, convinced of its importance to international trading relations.

Universalism does not of course mean uniformity. Indeed, one of the strengths of arbitration is its ability to accommodate different approaches and practices. We may see an illustration of this in the articles published in the following pages, be it Hans Smit's consideration of dissenting opinions, or the discussions on interest to be found in the previously unpublished extracts from ICC arbitral awards and in the accompanying papers by ICC Court member James Otis Rodner and by two members of the Secretariat of the Court, Lara Hammoud and Matthew Secomb.

Nor should universalism be thought to imply disregard of local legal traditions. Many of the instruments that have helped to shape international commercial arbitration, such as the Model Law of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, represent a conscious effort to embrace national legal diversities and to provide a standard upon which different nations may base themselves when implementing legal reform. The recent example of Japan is discussed in this issue by Hiroshi Oda, the Japanese member of the ICC Court.

In addition to the above-mentioned articles, we also publish in this issue the 2003 Statistical Report of the ICC Court, which once again demonstrates that the scope of the Court's activity reflects the very universalism of international commercial arbitration.

Finally, it is with great sadness that we pay tribute to the late Professor Philippe Fouchard, a cherished friend to many of us at ICC. Not only did the exceptional quality of Professor Fouchard's work win him great respect, but the kindness and generosity he brought to the study of international commercial arbitration endeared him to colleagues and students alike.

Anne Marie Whitesell

Secretary General

ICC International Court of Arbitration