The Italian Yearbook of International Law aims at making accessible to the English speaking public the Italian contribution to the practice and literature of international law. Volume XIII (2003) is organised in three main sections. The first contains doctrinal contributions including articles on State responsibility for the breach of positive obligations; State continuity and the case of Somalia; the European Union’s international relations and the notion of fragmented sovereignty; self-defence and the problem of attribution of the September 11 attacks on the US; and the ICTY jurisprudence on jurisdiction over illegally abducted war criminals. This section includes also notes on current developments such as the 2003 UNESCO Declaration on the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage and the establishment of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, as well as surveys on the activity of selected international institutions and tribunals (International Law Commission, World Trade Organization, Law of the Sea Tribunal, and European Court of Human Rights). The second section covers the Italian practice in the areas of 1) judicial decisions; 2) diplomatic and parliamentary practice (including the parliamentary debates over the legality of the US-led war against Iraq and the Italian most recent views on the proposed reform of the United Nations); 3) treaty practice; and 4) national legislation (including the latest measures on the Italian participation to international missions of military forces). The third section contains a systematic bibliographical index of Italian literature in the field of international law and reviews of recent books. The volume ends with an analytical index for ready consultation that includes the main judicial cases and legal instruments cited throughout the Yearbook.