PhD in International Law - IUS/13-IUS/14
The objectives of the Course consist of providing as its primary goal a basic formation, as broad and complete as possible, in the various subjects (public international law, private international law, European Union law, international economic law, international organizations law) in which the domains of international and European Union law are articulated. Particular care will be devoted to provide participants with a good command of research methods. On this basis candidates will be guided through a more specialized formation process, in accordance with the individual research programs leading to the writing of their doctoral theses. The doctoral research course proposes to face the current challenges which the process of globalization poses to legal research, in the three basic fields of public international law, private international law and law of the European Union. In the first field, the profound transformations undergoing in the international community require an entire process of reconsideration concerning the mere concept of State sovereignty, in light of the arrival of new actors on the scene of international relations, namely non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals (with the related issue of human rights). Likewise, the role of international organizations will need being reconsidered, in particular that of the United Nations, whose essential function for the 'keeping' of the international order (threatened by the unilateral use of force, on the one side, and by international terrorism, on the other) appears indispensable, even though it faces a critical phase which seems far from a solution. Further reflection is needed also in respect of the legal regulation of international economic relations, like international trade, as well as concerning the issues related to development law, to the regulation of situations of financial crisis and of public debt. A further issue in need of thorough analysis is the institutionalization of the judicial function, in particular through international criminal courts (such as the International Tribunals for the former Jugoslavia, for Rwanda, for Sierra Leone and, lastly, the International Criminal Court). The growing intensity of relationships between individuals and companies at a 'transnational' level, due to the development of international trade, to the free circulation among countries belonging to various regional organizations such as the European Union and to the increase of migrations, has increased the relevance of the traditional themes of private international law. These, as it is known, consist of the allocation of jurisdiction among the courts of different countries, the determination of the applicable law in respect of situations of a trans-national nature and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. These problems are an important part of the scope of the doctoral research course, with particular attention for the solutions which they receive through international conventions and within international organizations, such as the European Union and those arisen in Latin America. A significant part of the Course is devoted to the law of the European Union. It is just the case to remind how EU law permeates, nowadays, almost every field of social life, and how, moving from an originally mostly economic and commercial perspective, it has developed, extending it scope of intervention also to those subjects which were traditionally considered as reserved for State action, such as criminal law (with reference, e.g., to the European arrest warrant). In fact, it is no longer possible to undertake legal research without placing oneself in a European if not in an international perspective. In the selection of themes for doctoral theses in international law and European Union law particular attention is devoted to the choice of topics which may prove more qualifying for the formation of the European jurist, as well as for the legal practitioner within the EU, such as, for example, those relating to the role of the case law of the European Court of Justice in respect of the free circulation of professional services. The doctoral research course takes place since many years on the basis of a convention with the Libera Università Internazionale di Scienze Sociali (LUISS) 'Guido Carli' of Rome, which provides a particularly qualified contribution both in respect of the participation of lecturers and of the organization of scientific and cultural initiatives. The topics which form the subject of doctoral theses are selected collectively by the board of lecturers of the Course, discussing them openly and thoroughly with the candidates, with the intent of reconciling their individual interests with the need to select topics particularly significant for the development of research and likely to involve, in so far as possible, the three different fields which fall within the scope of the Course.