INTERNATIONAL LAW

We all live, whether or not we like it in a globalised world; a world of total interdependence. We cannot do without mass transportation across borders, mass communications throughout the world, multilateral trade and investment, cultural cooperation among nations and the protection of cultural and human heritage. But all this requires international legal rules and regulations to enable and facilitate them. We cannot travel by plane, move goods by ship and container, access the internet, use Zoom and other video conferencing tools to hold virtual meetings, engage in international investment, combat pandemics and other infectious diseases, or even watch our favourite movies on Netflix or YouTube without a complex web of multilateral rules, regulations and standards that facilitate and inform all those activities. We cannot have the disputes likely to arise from all those activities settled without the interpretation and application of international legal rules.

This course will introduce students to the study of International Law, outlining the main features of the international legal system.
The Course will cover, after a brief historical background, subjects and sources of international law, the jurisdiction of States, the relationship between international law and the domestic law of States, mechanisms to solve international disputes, the law of international responsibility.
During the lectures, some cases of domestic and international jurisprudence will be analyzed.

The student must :
A) demonstrate basic knowledges on International law (KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING)
B) recognize and be able to analyze, following the hierarchy of domestic and international laws, the conflicts between laws, supporting personal arguments (APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING)
C) show the ability to understand and interpret rules and judgements of different legal systems, using and analyzing sources of International Law (MAKING JUDGEMENTS)
D) Show to have the cultural tools sufficient to identify the problems inside the relationships between domestic and international law in a clear way, properly taking the necessary information, formulating ideas, and providing solutions to problems (COMMUNICATION SKILLS)
E) Show the possess of methodological techniques in bibliography and case-law research and demonstrate to have acquired the skills to study with a high degree of autonomy (LEARNING SKILLS).

Some basic knowledge of law is recommended.

- Subjects of International Law: States and International Organizations. NGOs and transnational corporations.
- Sources of International Law: international customs, treaties and general principles of law. Jus cogens. Other sources of contemporary International Law.
- International Law in the transnational legal system
- The relationship between international law and domestic law.
- The law of international responsibility.
- Settlement of international disputes.

F. MARRELLA, D. CARREAU, Diritto internazionale, latest edition, Milano-Francis Lefebvre, Giuffré, (in italian).

English Speaking foreign students (i.e. Erasmus) may prepare the exam on the textbook by A. Henriksen, International Law, OUP, latest edition. They will also find there links to documents and cases.

French Speaking foreign students (i.e. Erasmus) may prepare the exam on the textbook F. MARRELLA, D. CARREAU, Droit international, 12 éd., Paris, Pedone, 2018 (only chapters I, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV. A new edition is forthcoming in spring 2021.

Students are expected to update their knowledge by following the ASIL International Law in brief Blog https://www.asil.org/blogs/ilib?page=1&blog=81 .

Students are also expected to consult the following website: https://www.asil.org/resources/electronic-resource-guide-erg

Written exam (essay questions) with the option for the student to pass an oral exam whose grade will average with the one obtained in the written test.
During the exam, students may consult international legal instruments provided that they do not contain comments. They shall not be consulted online but only on a print out format.

Lectures. Some cases may be used to increase interaction and discussion of topics.

Italian

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development