The course aims to provide students with the tools for understanding the functioning of the international legal system. To this end, special attention will be paid
to the structures of the legal system, to the interactions between the subjects that compose it and to the evolution of the traditional international rules and institutions.

The general part of the course will therefore be dedicated to the foundations of international law and will address the most relevant issues relating to:

1) Sources of international law. Customs, treaties and general principles of law. The relationships between
the sources of international law. The International Law Commission and the Codification of International Law. The law of treaties.

2) Subjects of international law. States and international organizations. The subjectivity of individuals: from the repression of international crimes to human rights protection. The regime of immunities: State immunity, functional and personal immunities, the immunities of international organizations

3) Use of force in international relations. Role and functioning of the Security Council and Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations; the exceptions to the prohibition of
use of force

4) Peaceful settlment of international disputes. Arbitration. The International Court of Justice: advisory opionions and contentious function. The European Court of Rights
of man. The International Criminal Court.

5) The law of State responsibility. Constitutive elements of the international wrongful act. The consequences of the unlawful act. The collective relationship of responsibility.

6) The relationship between international law and domestic law. Monism and dualism. Customary law and domestic law. Treaties and domestic law.


In the second part of the course some of the topics addressed in the general part will be explored through the reading of articles and / or sentences of particular importance.
In particular, we will discuss the relationship between the Security Council and the International Criminal Court.

Attending Students
- Cassese, Diritto internazionale, Bologna, 2021.
- Articoli e sentenze di approfondimento indicati a lezione.

Non-attending Students:
- Cassese, Diritto internazionale, Bologna, 2021.
- Ronzitti, Diritto internazionale dei conflitti armati, 6a edizione, Giappichelli, Torino, 2017 (solamente pp. 143-262 and pp. 365-383).

Erasmus Students:
Shaw, International Law, Cambridge, 2017.