I am pleased to write these words by way of a foreword to Dr. Mahasen
Alj- houb's book "The Advisory Function of the International Court of
Justice". I do so with a sense of pride in the achievement of a fellow
countrywoman and, me- phorically speaking, a sister in law. My pride is
coupled with hope and a nascent optimism that she - and a group of young
Jordanian academics, mostly recent graduates of universities in the
United Kingdom - will contribute further and significantly to the
teaching and d- semination of international law in Jordan and, if I do
not strain hope by hoping too much, in a region in which,
notwithstanding its past glory, the culture of law has for too long been
superceded by the logic of power politics and unbridled raison d'état.
My only hesitation in writing this foreword is that a particularly heavy
Court schedule has permitted me only a chance at a perusal of the
contents of the book. A perusal which, whilst more than casual, falls
short of the serious study that it deserves. Yet, I can unhesitatingly
concur with the verdict of the internal and - ternal examiners who
praised Dr. Aljaghoub's thesis (as it then was) for "its th- oughness,
detail and authoritativeness on this important area of international
law".