'In a world where it seems that it is only on aeroplanes - and then, not always - that one is cut off from internet access, hard copy texts may appear unnecessary. One's view on this issue is a matter of personal preference. I can only say that, as on e who thinks legal research is closer to bricolage than to precision engineering, it is the ability to browse and to read legal texts like a narrative that is important, rather than the ability ot locate speciifc passages and excise them for later use. For that, books seem to me simply to be better. They also have a permanence and authority that offer some guarantee against accidental or malicious alteration of the text, or even unauthorised mutations of the text such as the outrageous spoof WTO site published at http://www.gatt.org. And, not least of the considerations, every permanent tribunal deserves the dignity of a set of its own reports upon the shelf. These publications do their job well. They are handsomely produced, easy on the eye, and exude a discreet hint of gravitas appropriate to the standing of the ITLOS. Tribunal and publisher alike can take real pride in them.'
Vaughan Lowe, The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals: A Practitioners' Journal, (2002).