Category Archives: Senate of the Republic

The Resumption of Hostilities between Israel and Palestinian Armed Groups and the Qualification of Palestinian Civil Society Associations as Terrorist Organizations

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The year 2021 was marked by the most violent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza since 2014. In May, clashes and protests for scheduled forced evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, and for increasing Israeli settlement activity, spiraled into eleven days of military confrontation. On 17 May 2021, at the Security Council open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, the European Union (EU) expressed its concerns over the upsurge in violence and called “for an immediate cessation of hostilities”.[1] Similarly, on 12 May, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General remarked that “de-escalation is an absolute must to protect the lives of civilians”.[2] 

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The Legality of Sanctions Between the Condemnation of Their Extraterritorial Application and Humanitarian Concerns

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On 23 March 2021, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council passed a resolution entitled “The negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights”,[1] with the negative vote of 15 States, including Italy. One week later, on 31 March, during a joint session (7th Meeting, XVIII Legislature) of the Committee on Foreign and European Community Affairs (III) of the Chamber of Deputies and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Emigration (3rd) of the Senate of the Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Luigi di Maio, addressed and dispelled the allegations that Italy’s vote amounted to an endorsement of sanctions on Cuba (a Country that voted in favor of the resolution).

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The Legality of the Libyan Fisheries Protection Zone and the Coastal State’s Enforcement Powers: A Change of Policy

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Somewhat unsurprisingly, the so-called “red prawn war”, the dispute that has pitted the Mazara del Vallo fishing industry and the Libyan authorities against each other for dozens of years, has generated intense parliamentary activity in 2021 as well.

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Responsibility for the Spread of COVID-19 and Socio-economic Concerns in the Fight Against the Pandemic

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The year 2020 was marked by COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO).[1] COVID-19 not only caused millions of deaths around the world, but it impacted almost every aspect of human life, from the world economy to personal freedoms and the right to healthcare.

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The Arrest and Continuous Detention of Egyptian Researcher Patrick Zaki

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On 7 February 2020, Patrick Zaki, an Egyptian researcher, was arbitrarily arrested by the Egyptian authorities at Cairo airport. He was returning home from Italy for a family visit. Since August 2019, he had been on leave from his job at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) to study for a postgraduate degree at the University of Bologna. Upon his arrival at Cairo airport, Zaki was disappeared for 24 hours.

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The Dispute with France over the Territorial Boundary in the Mont Blanc Area

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The boundary between Italy and France in the Alpine region is set by the treaty signed in Turin, on 24 March 1860, by the Kingdom of Sardinia and the French Empire concerning the cession to the latter of the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice, as well as by the actual delimitation agreements – implementing the 1860 Treaty – signed by the same parties on 27 June and 25 November 1860, 7 March 1861, and 26 September 1862.[1]

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Maritime Delimitation in the Central Mediterranean Sea and Algeria’s Proclamation of an Exclusive Economic Zone

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With Presidential Decree no. 18-96 of 20 March 2018, Algeria officially proclaimed an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean Sea so as to exercise therein its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with Part V of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The act included a list of 63 geographical coordinates delineating the extension of the maritime claim but envisaged that the outer limits of the EEZ could be modified through bilateral agreements with neighboring States, where necessary.[1]

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The Libyan Fisheries Protection Zone and the Powers of Enforcement of a Local De Facto Government During the Libyan Civil War

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On 1 September 2020, two Italian fishing vessels from Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, were seized by Libyan forces operating under the authority of the Benghazi unrecognized government. The seizure took place approximately 38 miles off the coast of Cyrenaica. The fishermen of the two boats – eight Italians, six Tunisians, two Indonesians, and two Senegalese – were accused of fishing in Libyan waters and were transferred to Libyan soil where they began a period of detention that would last 108 days.[1] The fishing vessels were also seized by the Libyan militia.

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Arms Export to Some Near- and Middle-Eastern Countries

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In 2020, the interest – from a legal viewpoint – in Italy’s position on arms export stemmed from what the Country’s representatives omitted to say rather than from the explicit content of their declarations.

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Developments Concerning Austria’s Attempts to Grant Dual Nationality and Consular Assistance to German- and Ladin-speaking South Tyroleans

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Toned down during the first part of 2019, the diplomatic row between Italy and Austria over Vienna’s draft laws on dual nationality and consular assistance for German- and Ladin-speaking South Tyroleans resurfaced[1] following the fall of the Austrian Government in May 2019.

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