Law, Territory and Conflict Resolution

Territory and its effective control is one of the foundational elements of sovereignty. International law is based on the principle of territorial integrity of states. Territorial claims, however, are to be found in several contexts and very often constitutions and ordinary legislation contain provisions on territories claimed by individual countries as well as procedures to annex territories.
As a matter of fact, despite the principle of territorial integrity, the geo-political map is constantly changing.

The conference aims at investigating whether legal provision on territory - especially on disputed, claimed or "irredent" territories - are to be seen as part of the problem or part of the solution. The issue is discussed in the perspective of both public international law and comparative constitutional law.

PROGRAMME

09:15 – 09:30 Registration

Opening remarks and greetings

09:30 Mariacaterina Baruffi, Deputy Director, Department of Law, University of Verona

Francesco Palermo, University of Verona and EURAC, Bolzano/Bozen

SESSION I: TERRITORY AND CONFLICTS: LAW AS A PROBLEM?

Chair: Enrico Milano, University of Verona

10:00 Antonello Tancredi, University of Palermo
Secession, self-determination and international law

10:20 Caterina Filippini, University of Milan
Constitutions and territorial claims. Lessons from the former Soviet space

10:40 Discussant: Beatrice Bonafè, University of Rome “La Sapienza”

10:55 Discussion

11.20 – 11.45 Coffee Break

SESSION II: TERRITORY AND CONFLICTS: LAW AS A SOLUTION?

Chair: Francesco Palermo, University of Verona and EURAC,

11:50 Karl Kössler, Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism, EURAC, Bolzano/Bozen
Power-sharing and territories

12:10 Maria Chiara Vitucci, Second University of Naples
Internationalized territorial regimes as solution to conflicts?

12:30 Discussant: Federica Prina, University of Glasgow

12:45 Discussion

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

SESSION III: CASE STUDIES

Chair: Giuseppe Nesi, University of Trento

14:00 Veronika Bilkova, Venice Commission
The annexation of Crimea

14:20 Jure Vidmar, University of Maastricht
Secession from an EU member State: what did we learn from Scotland?

14:40 Enrico Milano, University of Verona
The intractable case of Northern Kosovo

15:00 – 15.20 Matteo Nicolini, University of Verona
Territorial and ethnic divide: a new legal geography for Cyprus

15:20 Discussion

15:45 Giuseppe Nesi, University of Trento
Concluding remarks

INFO
Participation is open and free of charge.
Interested participants are invited to announce their attendance via e-mail to: matteo.nicolini@univr.it