Student guide Faculty of Law A.Y. 2010/11

The teaching of international law is designed to illustrate the legislation governing the life of the international community (relations involving States and international organisations, known as “public international law”), and the legislation governing international relations of a private nature (“private international law”).

Firstly, the course will cover the basic characteristics and main contents of the international legislation, with particular attention to the increasing part that explains the effects on and modifications of domestic rights and influences the position of the parties (natural and legal persons) subject to the domestic law of each country. In this light, particular attention will be devoted to protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals in the international legal system.

The second part of the course will cover the general principles of private international law in the Italian legal system. The techniques of demarcation of Italian jurisdiction, identification of the applicable law and application of foreign law, and the attribution of efficacy to foreign judgments, will be illustrated in the light of the main legislation on the subject, namely Statute no. 218 of 31 May 1995.

1.   Parties subject to and sources of international law.

1.1 States and international organisations: in particular, the United Nations and the European Union.

1.2 Custom.

1.3  Treaties: formation, interpretation, application and extinction. The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

1.4  Acts of international organisations; introduction to EU law.

 2.   The contents of international law. 

2.1  The individual, and international protection of human rights. The main international conventions on the subject.

2.2  Repression of international crime and the international criminal courts.

 3.   International law and domestic law. 

3.1  The adaptation of domestic legislation to comply with international law. The Italian Constitution, international law, and European Union law.

3.2 Adaptation to treaties: special procedure and ordinary procedure.

 4.   International offences and international dispute resolution.

4.1 The international liability of States. The subjective and objective elements of offences. Individual and collective self-protection measures.

4.2  Prohibition on the use of force, and exceptions. The collective security system of the United Nations: Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and the latest practice on the subject.

4.3  Peaceful resolution of international disputes. The International Court of Justice and other international courts.

 Part II – Private International Law.

 1.   Introduction.

1.1  Cases with foreign aspects: jurisdiction, rules of conflict of laws, and recognition of foreign judgments.

1.2  Structure and function of private international law legislation. The international unification of the subject, with special reference to the EU.

1.3  The historical development of private international law up to the 1995 Reform Act: general characteristics of the reform.

 2.   Italian jurisdiction.

2.1  Determination of the extent of Italian jurisdiction. The reference to jurisdiction criteria in the 1968 Brussels Convention.

2.2 Acceptance of and exceptions to jurisdiction.

2.3 Lis alibi pendens.

 3.   Applicable law.

3.1 Knowledge and application of foreign law.

3.2 Qualification and referral.

3.3 Public order and rules of necessary application.

3.4 Citizenship and statelessness: introduction to Italian citizenship law.

3.5 Introduction to individual legal relations. Cross-reference to the Private International Law and Procedural Law course.

 4.   Effectiveness of foreign judgments. 

4.1  Automatic recognition of the effects of foreign judgments and their enforcement. Obstacles to these effects. The question of procedure in the absence of provisions in Statute no. 218.

4.2 Reference to foreign judgments on the basis of the rules of conflict of laws.