Unit INTERNATIONAL LAW

Course
Law
Study-unit Code
A001381
Location
PERUGIA
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Alessandra Lanciotti
Teachers
  • Alessandra Lanciotti
Hours
  • 84 ore - Alessandra Lanciotti
CFU
12
Course Regulation
Coorte 2021
Offered
2022/23
Learning activities
Caratterizzante
Area
Internazionalistico
Academic discipline
IUS/13
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
Italian
Contents
The course is designed as an introduction to the study of International law. It will examine the structure of the International legal system and the rules governing the relations between the main actors of the International community (states, Organizations, other actors, individuals). The basic elements of International Law will be analysed in the light of the great changes that have taken place in the last decades.
Besides the institutional topics (such as sources of International Law, law enforcement mechanisms, dispute resolution, international accountability, integration in and compliance by domestic legal orders), a segment of the course (Part II) is devoted to the comment of current issues at stake, with particular regard to the activities of the UN and those of the International Criminal Court. The last part of the course offers a survey on the Italian private international law system (Part III).
Reference texts
Part I (General Part on Public International Law):
TANZI A., Introduzione al Diritto internazionale contemporaneo, Cedam, Padua,
or as a possible alternative textbook:
RONZITTI N., Introduzione al diritto internazionale, Giappichelli editore, Turin,
or
CONFORTI B., Diritto internazionale, Editoriale Scientifica, Naples.

Part II (International Humanitarian Law):
LANCIOTTI A., La Corte penale internazionale e la repressione delle gravi violazioni del diritto internazionale umanitario, Giappichelli ed., Tourin, 2013
or
RONZITTI N., Diritto internazionale dei conflitti armati, Giappichelli, Tourin, Part I (chapters from 1 to 4), Part II and Part IV.

Part III (Private International Law):
Ugo Villani, Diritto internazionale privato: profili generali, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli, 2019
Or, as a possible alternative textbook:
MOSCONI F. CAMPIGLIO C., Diritto internazionale privato e processuale. Vol. I Parte generale e obbligazioni, 10th edition, UTET, Torino, 2022, only Chapters I, III and IV.
Educational objectives
The course aims to introduce the students to the study of International law by providing the basic knowledge of the structure of the International legal system in the age of globalization through the analysis of the normative framework, the subjects and other actors, the dispute settlement mechanisms, with particular reference to the functioning of the main International organization, the UN. It also aims to examine the rules of International criminal law. It also intends to provide the basic knowledge on the theory of private International law and on the functioning of the traditional conflict of law mechanisms.
Furthermore, the course aims to give the students the necessary skills for the identification and interpretation of the rules governing the relationships between the subjects of the International community and for the examination of International practice and case-law. Finally, the course’s aim is to acquire the ability to expose the topics covered with appropriate terminology.
Prerequisites
For a better understanding of the topics covered in the course, students shall possess general legal notions about the State’s structure and the sources of law. They should have acquired those notions during their first year. This precondition is valid for both attending and non-attending students.
Teaching methods
The course consists of a series of face to face lectures and seminars, sometimes with the use of a presentation in power point; reading materials related to the topics discussed in class, such as case-law, texts of resolutions, declarations and treaties are provided by the professor. Those materials are published on the webpage of Unistudium platform so that they can be available also to non-attending students.
Other information
In the first semester (September-December), the topics of the general part of the course are covered. In the second semester (February- May), the first segment is dedicated to international criminal law, while the last one deals with the theory of private international law.
Course attendance is not compulsory. However, it becomes essential for those students wishing to write their final thesis in International law.
Attendance to class is highly recommended for Erasmus incoming students, in particular for those students who choose “Private International Law”.
Learning verification modality
The exam consists of an oral examination, i.e. an interview (lasting approximately 20 minutes) during which the professor poses questions to the student in spoken form about the topics included in the programme (at least one question on each part of the programme). For those students who have attended question can be related also to issues and cases examined during classes.
The duration of the examination may vary depending on the answers given by each candidate.
Extended program
PART I (1st Semester)
- What is international law. Public and Private International Law.
Historical development of IL and structure of the International community
- Subjects and actors in the International community: States, International organizations and other entities. International legal personality of individuals.
- Naissance and recognition of new states.
- Formation and transformation of International law: sources: custom, treaties, jus cogens, general principles, other sources.
- Formation of International custom and its detection.
- Formation and validity of treaties. The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the formation of a treaty; ratification and entry into force of the treaty, causes of invalidity and termination. Interpretation of treaties, reservations. - Other sources of International law, resolutions of International organizations.
- The source hierarchy and the relationship between rules.
- State and personal immunities under International law. Diplomatic immunities
- The law of the sea (in brief)
- International Environmental law (in brief)
- International foreign investment law and diplomatic protection (in brief)
- Incorporation of general International law and treaties intothe domestic legal orders. Articles 10(1) and 117(1) of the Italian Constitution.
- The violation of International Law rules and State responsibility for wrongful acts.
- Internationally wrongful acts, characterization of an act of a State as Internationally wrongful, circumstances precluding wrongfulness. State responsibility, the ILC Project on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (2001).
- International responsibility of individuals under International law.
- Settlement of International disputes: Definition of dispute and obligation of states to resolve it peacefully. Diplomatic means and judicial means of dispute settlement
- The role of the International Court of Justice.
- The UN Charter: The use of force and the UN collective self-defence system. The Security Council’s role, Chapter VII, Article 51. Aggression.
Part II (2nd Semester, February) – International Criminal Law (3 CFU)
- International criminal law, International humanitarian law and human rights law.
- The protection of the victims of armed conflicts. Main sources of International humanitarian law, Hague Law and Geneva Law - Grave breaches to the Geneva Conventions. The issue of Universal jurisdiction.
- International criminal prosecutions: from the Nuremberg Tribunal to the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC).
- The ICC: functioning and jurisdiction.
- Crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.
- Proceedings before the ICC. Sentencing and applicable penalties. Immunities from criminal jurisdiction.

Part III (2nd Semester, March) - Private International law (3CFU)
- Nature and function of private International law rules.
- Sources of law in the Italian private International law system: Law No. 218 of 1995 on the reform of the Italian system of private International law. The role of uniform law conventions.
Relevant EU regulations (in brief).
- Structure of the conflict of law rule: connecting factors and their classification, concurrence of connecting factors.
- Assessment and application of conflict of law rules, the "jura novit curia" principle.
- The so called "qualification" problem.
- The "renvoi" (article 13, Law No. 218 of 1995).
- Interstate conflict of laws (article 18, Law No. 218 of 1995).
- Limits to the application of foreign laws: the "ordre public" exception and the "lois the police" (articles 16 and 17, Law No. 218 of 2005).
- Jurisdiction: Jurisdictional links according to articles 3 and 4 of Law 218 of 1995; jurisdiction under UE Reg. Brussels I bis (Reg. No 1215/2012) (in brief). .
- Principle governing the recognition of foreign judgments (in brief).
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