The tyranny of living in the public eye: How do international courts portray themselves and behave in the digital arena?
Intro by Micaela Frulli The diffusion and pervasiveness of new technologies and digital media has involved everyone in a race for visibility whose goal is gaining recognition by others (or better fulfilling an unbearable need for admiration),[1] but it has also changed the perception of time, the construction of one’s identity, the exposure and exhibition...
The implications of sea-level rise for international law
Introduced by Maura Marchegiani* The question concerning the effects, implications, and repercussions of the phenomenon of sea level rise, as well as its possible and potential legal consequences, has been at the heart of political, legal, and institutional debates, becoming the subject of several statements by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and...
BOOKS – LIVRES
Introduced by Lucas Lima It is a truism that the circulation and production of scientific knowledge obey socio-cultural and linguistic parameters. Almost every international lawyer has experienced some kind of linguistic hurdle at some point of their career. Recent studies in the field demonstrate the importance of language as a catalyst and propeller of...
Looking for the best interests of the child (BIC) in the least expected places: Can it really make a difference?
Introduced by Francesca Capone* In the decades following the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) we have seen the ‘best interests of the child’ principle (BIC) become entrenched as a prominent children’s rights principle.[1] Put it simply, BIC is to be ‘a primary consideration’[2] in all actions concerning children,...
From EEZ-phobia to EEZ-mania? The Algerian exclusive economic zone and its consequences
Introduced by Béatrice Bonafé and Marco Pertile The delimitation of maritime areas in the Mediterranean has been recently at the centre of a lively debate among the scholars of international law and international relations. Their attention has mainly focussed on the central-eastern quadrant of that semi-enclosed sea and on the resurgence of the Greek-Turkish...
The shadow pandemic: Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on women’s rights
Introduced by Micaela Frulli As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out in his Policy Brief of 9 April 2020: ‘Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex’.[1] Available data clearly show that the...
General international law and the challenges of regionalism before the International Law Commission
Introduced by Maurizio Arcari In the memorandum ‘Survey of International Law’, submitted in 1949 by the Secretary-General to the UN International Law Commission (ILC) to enable it to draft its future programme of work, little room was devoted to the topic of the sources of international law. This was justified essentially on the account...
Litigating global crises: What role for international courts and tribunals in the management of climate change, mass migration and pan-demics?
Introduced by Alessandro Bufalini, Martina Buscemi and Loris Marotti Crises are crucial for international lawyers. As James Crawford vividly put it ‘[i]f there were no international crises, many of us would not be international lawyers’ as ‘[w]e validate calling ourselves international lawyers by reference to some international crisis which touched us in one...
Climate security: Global issue v regional responses
Introduced by Béatrice Bonafé and Maurizio Arcari The precise link between climate change and armed conflicts is debated. However, the impact of the former on worsening conflict situations is increasingly acknowledged at the global level. The Security Council did include climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters among international security concerns that may...
How can a treaty on business and human rights fit with international law? Assessing the development of international rules on corporate accountability and their relationship with other international legal regimes
Introduced by Angelica Bonfanti and Marco Pertile In June 2014, the Human Rights Council established, with resolution 26/9, an open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) with the mandate to elaborate an ‘international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises’.[1] Six sessions have been...
Litigating jurisdiction before the ECtHR: Between patterns of change and acts of resistance
Introduced by Alice Riccardi, Alice Ollino and Diego Mauri Some ten years ago, one author described the notion of jurisdiction under Article 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to embed a ‘sufficiently flexible definition to be able, over time, to evolve outwards further, as European signatories expand not only the nature...
Searching for an identity: Sovereign Wealth Funds between their private and public nature in international and domestic litigation
Introduced by Attila Tanzi and Gian Maria Farnelli The emergence of sovereign wealth funds (‘SWFs’) as prominent actors in international economic relations and their involvement in international investment law and domestic litigation is increasingly attracting interest in the scholarly debate. Indeed, SWFs, and their relatives State-owned enterprises (‘SOE’), touch upon fundamental institutions of...
