Università Roma Tre

The course covers the major areas of international law:
- The basic features of the so-called international community, intended as a social construct: their relevance from a legal standpoint;
- International legal personality: States and international organisations as subjects of international law; other subjects of international law;
- Sources and rules of international law: customs and general international law; the law of treaties; codification in international law; ius cogens the hierarchy of rules in international law;
- Relationships and interaction between international law and domestic law; reception and execution of international legal rules within national legal orders;
- Internationally wrongful act and State responsibility; the responsibility of international organisations;
- International dispute settlement; international courts and tribunals; diplomatic means of settlement.
In addition, the lectures introduce students to selected special subject areas such as: state territorial sovereignty and its limits (issues of jurisdiction and immunities); human rights; migration law; self-determination of peoples; the prohibition of the use of force and the maintenance of peace and security; international criminal law; the law of the sea.

Textbooks:

At the option of the student,
either
Benedetto Conforti, Diritto internazionale, (Iovane ed.), Napoli, Editoriale scientifica, last edition (2018),
or
Natalino Ronzitti, Introduzione al Diritto internazionale, Torino, Giappichelli, last edition (2019)

In addition, the following monographic essay:

Giuseppe Palmisano, Contributo allo studio giuridico dei metodi diplomatici per la soluzione delle controversie tra Stati, Torino, Giappichelli, 2019 (in corso di stampa)

The content of the course is an in-depth study of the following topics:
- the structural features of the c.d. "International community" relevant from a legal point of view;
- the international subjectivity of States and other recipients of the rules of international law (in particular, international organizations); changes of sovereignty and "identity" of the State in international law.
- the system of sources: customs and general international law, treaties and the law of the treaties, the sources foreseen by agreement, the relations between written law and unwritten law, the process of codification of international law, the so-called non-binding rules;
- the relationships between international law and domestic legal orders and the adaptation of the Italian legal system to international rules;
- wrongful facts in international law and the international responsibility of States and international organizations;
- international dispute settlement and international jurisdictions.
The essential contents and the evolutionary profiles of some sectors governed by international law will also be addressed, including: territorial sovereignty and its limits; the protection of human rights; immigration and the rights of aliens; respect for the self-determination of peoples; the prohibition of the use of force and the maintenance of international peace and security; individuals' international crimes and individual criminal responsibility; the international law of the sea.

Students are requested to study one textbook of international law, namely:
Benedetto Conforti, Diritto internazionale, a cura di Iovane, Napoli, Editoriale scientifica, last edition (2018) or
- Natalino Ronzitti, Introduzione al Diritto internazionale, Torino, Giappichelli, last edition (2016)
Additionally students are requested to study:
Giuseppe Palmisano, Contributo allo studio giuridico dei metodi diplomatici per la soluzione delle controversie tra Stati, Torino, Giappichelli, 2019 (forthcoming)

Students are also encouraged to be familiar with the Charter of the United Nations and the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. An additional text of reference could be the volume 'Codice di diritto internazionale pubblico' edited by Luzzato and Pocar, Giappichelli publisher.