The mission of The Italian Yearbook of International Law is to make the Italian contribution to the practice and literature of international law accessible to the English speaking public.
Volume XXI (2011) features a Symposium on the international law questions arising from the Libyan crisis. The Symposium addresses: i) issues of jus ad bellum and jus in bello, such as the legality and limits of the NATO’s intervention; ii) the recognition of the Libyan National Transitional Council; iii) the implementation of economic and financial sanctions in Italy; and iv) the problem of prosecuting international crimes committed in Libya by both the Gaddafi forces and the insurgents.
The first part of the Volume also features a “focus section” analysing and discussing certain aspects of the ICJ Judgment in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy), namely i) the ICJ consideration of the Italian argument concerning the absence of alternative remedies for the victims of the Nazi crimes at stake; ii) the treatment of United States practice on State immunity by the ICJ; iii) the ICJ’s rejection of the jus cogens argument advanced by Italy; and iv) the effects of the ICJ judgment in the Italian legal system.
The “Notes and Comments” section contains contributions covering such topical issues as the protection of religious rights and freedoms by the European Court of Human Rights and collective actions in ICSID arbitration. Surveys on the activities of the ICJ, ITLOS, ICSID, and international criminal courts and tribunals occupy the remaining part of this section.
The second part of the Volume covers the 2011 Italian practice in the areas of i) judicial decisions; ii) diplomatic and parliamentary practice; iii) treaty practice; and iv) national legislation. The third part 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 which includes the main judicial cases and legal instruments cited throughout the Yearbook.