This article is a personal account of the work of Professor Dugard at the International Law Commission from the point of view of someone who sits next to him in the Commission and has worked with him there for the past six years. It tries to show how his proposals and arguments, especially concerning the topic ‘Diplomatic Protection’, for which he was the Special Rapporteur, greatly directed the debate and led to the approval of innovatory articles such as those concerning refugees, stateless persons, and members of ships' crews and recommendations to governments to take the interests of people injured more seriously. Above all, it tries to show how international law-making processes can be influenced by the determination, the knowledge, and the intelligence of a person whose dedication to the defence of human rights and a fairer world order has been exemplary.