The Duty to Punish Racial Hate v. Freedom of Expression: Looking for a Fair Balance in the Domestic Implementation of CERD Obligations

Legittimazione ad agire e rappresentanza dei minori nei giudizi a Strasburgo: la sentenza L.R. c. Macedonia del Nord del 23 gennaio 2020

Le misure cautelari nei giudizi interstatali sui diritti umani: la prassi recente della Corte internazionale di giustizia e della Corte europea dei diritti umani

In the last few years there has been a significant quantitative increase in requesting interim measures of protection in inter-State cases concerning human rights, namely in inter-State proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and in proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) grounded on the compromissory clauses included in human rights treaties. In these cases, the ultimate beneficiaries of the interim protection are individuals although, formally, proceedings focus on States’ rights and duties (concerning the protection of human rights). The present paper analyses the recent case-law of the said courts from a double perspective: on the one hand, with…

Occasioni mancate: il bilanciamento tra diritto alla vita familiare e best interest of the child, e la rappresentanza del minore nella sentenza Strand Lobben

The recent judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strand Lobben and others v. Norway raises, among others, two interesting reflections. First, it expressly requires a balance between the best interest of the child and other rights, such as the parents’ interest to the maintenance of family relationships. However, the conclusion reached by the Court – finding a violation of art. 8 of the Convention only in respect of its procedural aspect – does not match with the premises. Second, the (missed opportunity for) balancing is carried out without guaranteeing the proper representation of the minor in the judgment. This procedural gap in the Court’s regulations sho…

L’ammissibilità ratione personae dei ricorsi alla Corte europea di individui estremamente vulnerabili: uguaglianza sostanziale e tutela del diritto di accesso alla giustizia internazionale

The legal framework governing proceedings before the ECtHR does not deal with cases in which victims of human rights violations are not de jure and/or de facto capable of lodging applications with the Court. In the effort of overcoming such a procedural lacuna, the Court has established a test that, taking into consideration the extreme vulnerability of the victims (such as minors and persons with disabilities) and the seriousness of the alleged violations, allows NGOs to apply as their ‘de facto representatives’, provided that some other conditions are fulfilled. The Court’s approach, however, has not been always consistent and does not guarantee predictability and legal certainty. Moreove…

La tecnica del bilanciamento nella giurisprudenza dei tribunali internazionali

La presente ricerca esamina il ruolo della tecnica del bilanciamento tra interessi, principi o valori nel ragionamento del giudice internazionale. Da un punto di vista tecnico, essa tenta di chiarire le funzioni che il bilanciamento può svolgere nell’ambito dell’esercizio della funzione giudiziaria internazionale, e quale sia la struttura dell’argomentazione giudiziaria che su essa si fondi, sempre che un approccio comune tra i diversi tribunali internazionali sia riscontrabile. Da un punto di vista di politica giudiziaria, intende fornire alcune possibili spiegazioni della diversa propensione dei diversi tribunali internazionali a fare ricorso a tale tecnica o, nella giurisprudenza di uno …

Public-Interest Litigation before the ECtHR: Towards a Human Rights Approach to the “Universal” Protection of Cultural Heritage?

Taking as a starting point the inadmissibility decision issued in 2019 by the European Court of Human Rights in the case Ahunbay and others v. Turkey, the article proposes some reflections concerning the possibility of lodging applications with the Court which are aimed at protecting collective interests and common goods as recognized (or emerging) under international law. While the case at hands concerned the specific issue of the protection of cultural heritage, it cannot be denied that, more generally, the importance in contemporary international law of public-interest litigation before international courts and tribunals is growing. And indeed, it is much discussed in the field of the pr…

Balancing Test

Considerazioni Critiche e di Prospettiva sulle Misure Provvisorie della Corte Internazionale Di Giustizia nel Caso Gambia c. Myanmar

L’ordinanza adottata dalla Corte internazionale di giustizia il 23 gennaio 2020, in risposta alla richiesta di misure provvisorie presentata nell’ambito della controversia Gambia c. Myanmar e relativa alla presunta violazione della Convenzione per la prevenzione e la repressione del delitto di genocidio, contiene diversi spunti interessanti che, probabilmente, incideranno sulla prosecuzione del giudizio. Il presente scritto esamina le questioni procedurali e sostanziali che emergono dalla medesima. Quanto agli aspetti procedurali, ci si soffermerà, in particolare, sul locus standi dinnanzi alla Corte di uno Stato non direttamente leso da violazioni di obblighi erga omnes partes e sulle pros…

La diretta applicabilità dei trattati nell’ordinamento italiano: quo vadis?

The concept of ‘direct applicability’ and ‘self-executing’ nature of international norms is still object of intense debate in the international legal scholarship. In Italy, such a debate has attracted new attention in the light of a recent ruling of the Joint Sections of the Court of Cassation, according to which the norms enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights are not directly applicable in domestic proceedings. Such a statement seems to derive from some terminological and legal mis-understanding. By summarizing the conclusions of the several authors which have dealt with this issue in a Special Section of the review, the present article formulates some conclusions. First, it…