It is a great honour to be invited to give this 8th Ahmad Ibrahim Memorial Lecture. I met Ahmad Ibrahim several times during his period as founding Dean of the Kulliyyah of Laws of the International Islamic University Malaysia, when we both attended conferences of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association in Cumberland Lodge, Windsor, Britain. He was immensely respected in the field of legal education in the Commonwealth; his interventions in our discussions were fewer than those of some colleagues, who liked to talk at lenght on every occassion and about every topic, but when he made comments they were always efective, being evidently based on long experience and deep thought. I have since read some of his work and learnt from it - as will appear , in small measure, from some references i make later in this lecture.