Courses
Sources of International Law
Sant'Anna - PhD Programme - 2025 - 10h
Protecting Individuals from International Organizations
Sant'Anna - honor students - 2025 - 20h
International organizations (IOs) increasingly affect our lives. From sending a parcel abroad to setting fishing quota, there are very few activities in which IOs do not set the standards subsequently applied by states. With the expansion and the global reach of their activities, it is not surprising that the collision between IOs and human rights is one of the most pressing issues of global governance. If an indigenous community is forcibly transferred to make way for a World Bank project, are there obligations to make the organization responsible? Are there judicial fora to seek accountability? What would reparation look like? Similarly, if the EU pushbacks migrants at sea, is it responsible for the breach of the obligation of non-refoulement? While morality may provide clear answers, human rights law might be more disappointing. Indeed, under mainstreaming international law, human rights law is a state-centric instrument that does not reflect the emergence of IOs as new powerful actors. For instance, IOs are rarely part of human rights treaties, and it is disputed whether they can bear obligations under customary international law. They do not possess a territory and the traditional conceptualization of jurisdiction over individuals included in human rights instruments finds difficult application.
These and other legal issues characterize the critical relationship between human rights and IOs, which will be the object of this course. We will distinguish between military, economic, regional, and technical, organizations, to debate the main legal challenges to identify human rights obligations and make IOs accountable for their violations. We will discuss the human rights impact of the NATO, the EU, the WB, the WHO, and other relevant organizations. We will discuss the feasibility of a general framework applicable to all IOs, the limited means of redress available to individuals, and the content of reparation. Defined as the salvation of humankind in mid-90s, it is today clear that IOs are part of the problem, rather than the solution.
Territoriality in International Law
Sant'Anna - honor students - 2024 - 20h
This course will examine the state-centric notion of territory and discuss the international law issues arising from the necessity to regulate 'non-territorial' spaces and actors. There are many cases in which technological developments led to the necessity to regulate spaces that are, at least at first sight, non-territorial: we will focus on the norms applicable to the high seas, space activities and cyberspace. Moreover, non-territorial entities, such as international organizations and multinational corporations, maintain an essential role in international and transnational law. In this context, defining non-territorial spaces and evaluate the capacity of international law to regulate them is particularly rewarding.
Decolonising International law
Sant'Anna - honor students - 2023 - 20h
Central European University - Master/LLM in Human Rights - 2023 - 24h
This course aims to provoking critical reflection on the status of international law and its role within the global community. It examines how human rights law can be decolonized, on the basis of critical reflection of legal practices through the lenses of colonial and post-colonial theory. We will discuss redress and reparation for colonialism, and the extent in which such practices are today embedded in human rights language. We will cover substantive areas of international human rights law such as self-determination, migration, and the different forms of territorial administration. Practical case studies will include (non-exhaustive list) the exploitation of Nauru, the incomplete decolonization of the Chagos Archipelago, the Mau Mau rebellion, the case of South West Africa/Namibia and the Herero Namaqua genocide. We will also cover the available form of redress, particularly in the form of memory law and the return of artifacts in possession of western museums.
Introduction to International Law
Sant'Anna - Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management - 2023/4 - 9h (shared module)
Annual course on the core topics of public international law. My classes focus on the Law of Treaty, Jurisdiction, Immunities, International Dispute Settlement.
International Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Operations
Sant'Anna - Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management - 2023/4 - 9h (shared module)
Annual course on the core topics of public international law. My classes focus on the use of force and collective security.
International Law Methodology
Sant'Anna - PhD Programme - 2023/4 - 5h (shared module)
Annual course on research methodology for PhD Candidates
The African Continent in 2023
Sant'Anna - honor students - 2023 - 2h (module convener)
The course prepared honor students to the trip to Ethiopia that took place November 2023. Several area of Sant'Anna took part in the training activities I coordinated. My class focused on the African Union and Regional Organizations
The UN Human Rights System
Central European University - Master/LLM in Human Rights - 2023 - 12h (shared module)
The course seeks to provide an overview of different UN human rights bodies, their functions, and responsibilities. We will explore the Human Rights Council, the Special Procedures, the Treaty Bodies, the Universal Periodic Review, and the Security Council. Students will become familiar with some of the intricacies of the UN human rights system, while taking a bird’s-eye view on the system, its challenges, and the need for reform. The course seeks to combine critical reflection with practical application.
Human Rights Legal Research Methodology
Central European University - Master/LLM in Human Rights - 2023 - 12h
The purpose of this course is to equip participants with the skills to be able to sensitively and critically design, carry out, report, read, and evaluate human rights research projects. It aims at offering an overview of human rights research methods. Participants will learn about the usefulness of qualitative research methods, the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of this type of research, the various approaches and schools of thought, as well as particular research methods and research skills. A central premise of the course is the situatedness of human rights research questions within the lived realities of members of human society. As such, it aims to develop in students the methodological and epistemic tools to critically evaluate single-method approaches which are common in doctrinal legal research.
International Organizations and Human Rights
Central European University - Master/LLM in Human Rights - 2023 - 24h
International organizations (IOs) increasingly affect our lives. From sending a parcel abroad to setting fishing quota, there are very few activities in which IOs do not set the standards subsequently applied by states. With the expansion and the global reach of their activities, it is not surprising that the collision between IOs and human rights is one of the most pressing issues of global governance. If an indigenous community is forcibly transferred to make way for a World Bank project, are there obligations to make the organization responsible? Are there judicial fora to seek accountability? What would reparation look like? Similarly, if the EU pushbacks migrants at sea, is it responsible for the breach of the obligation of non-refoulement? While morality may provide clear answers, human rights law might be more disappointing. Indeed, under mainstreaming international law, human rights law is a state-centric instrument that does not reflect the emergence of IOs as new powerful actors. For instance, IOs are rarely part of human rights treaties, and it is disputed whether they can bear obligations under customary international law. They do not possess a territory and the traditional conceptualization of jurisdiction over individuals included in human rights instruments finds difficult application.
These and other legal issues characterize the critical relationship between human rights and IOs, which will be the object of this course. We will distinguish between military, economic, regional, and technical, organizations, to debate the main legal challenges to identify human rights obligations and make IOs accountable for their violations. We will discuss the human rights impact of the NATO, the EU, the WB, the WHO, and other relevant organizations. We will discuss the feasibility of a general framework applicable to all IOs, the limited means of redress available to individuals, and the content of reparation. Defined as the salvation of humankind in mid-90s, it is today clear that IOs are part of the problem, rather than the solution.
International and European Law
Bocconi University - Bachelor in International Politics and Government - 2018/19/20/21/22 - 12h (shared module)
Annual course on the core topics of public international law.
Coach Jessup Moot Court Competition
Bocconi University - 2021
National best memorial award.
Topics in International and EU Law
Bocconi University - PhD Programme - 2020/21/22 - 4h (shared module)
Annual course on the core topics of public international law for PhD Candidates.
International Law
Bocconi University - Law School - 2020 - 30h (shared module)
Annual course on the core topics of public international law.
National and International Institutions Law
Bocconi University - Master in Economics and Management of Government and International Organizations - 2020 - 30h (shared module)
Annual course on the core topics of the law of international organizations.
Guest Lectures
Structuralism in International Law
University of Turin, PhD Programme in Diritto, Persona e Mercato - 13.12.2023
Contested Fundamentals of the Law of International Organizations
Addis Ababa University, College of Law and Governance - 02.12.2023
The Legal Status of EU Personnel on Mission Abroad
Sant'Anna and 7° reggimento Carabinieri - 16.10.2023
International Organizations: an Introduction
Sant'Anna and OSCE Talent Acquisition Programme - 23.10.2023
Great Book Seminar
Central European University, PhD Prorgamme in Law - 15.03.2023
Discourse Analysis
Central European University, PhD Seminar on Socio-legal Method - 11.10.2022
International Organizations
King's College London, Course of Niccolò Ridi on Public International Law - 2021/2022
International Organizations
Università degli Studi di Verona, Course of Annalisa Ciampi on Public International Law - 2018/2019
EU Constitutional Law
University of Copenhagen, Course of Günes Ünüvar - 2017/2018