Maurizio Ragazzi – författare

This is the first monograph on the concept of obligations erga omnes, an increasingly important notion in contemporary international law since its appearance in the International Court's judgment in the Barcelona Traction case. In 1970, The International Court of Justice identified a separate category of international obligations, which rather than being owed to a specific State on a bilateral basis, are owed to the international community as a whole, with all States having an interest in their protection and their being binding on all States irrespective of consent. Examples of such obligations given by the International Court are those prohibiting aggression and genocide, and those protecting from slavery and racial discrimination, in other words obligations erga omnes are those protecting and promoting basic values and common interests of states. This book is the first to examine the very concept of the obligations, rather than the corresponding rights of protection of obligations erga omnes. Ragazzi adopts a pragmatic method of legal analysis that identifies five common elements among the examples of obligations erga omnes given by the International Court. These five common elements are then discussed in relation to other candidates of obligations erga omnes which have emerged in State practice and international literature. Ragazzi's approach is extremely thorough and includes extensive bibliographical references in various languages.

In December 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Law Commission's articles on the responsibility of international organizations, bringing to conclusion not only nearly ten years of reflection by the Commission, governments and organizations on this specific topic, but also decades of study of the wider subject of international responsibility, which had initially focused on State responsibility.Parallel to this reflection by the Commission, diplomats and public officials, the body of international case-law and literature on the many facets of the topic has steadily been growing. Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie contributes to the body of international literature by collecting a broad spectrum of different and sometimes differing perspectives from well-known experts in the field, ranging from the bench to the Commission, academia, and the world of in-house counsel. The book is also a memorial to the renowned Sir Ian Brownlie, himself a former Chairman of the International Law Commission who, as a leading scholar and practitioner, greatly contributed to the reflection on international responsibility, including the responsibility of international organizations. Edited by Maurizio Ragazzi, a former pupil of Sir Ian, the book is an ideal companion to International Responsibility Today, a collection of essays on international responsibility which the same editor presented in 2005 in memory of Oscar Schachter, and to which Sir Ian Brownlie had contributed.The essays collected in Responsibility of International Organizations: Essays in Memory of Sir Ian Brownlie, conveniently grouped by the editor under broad areas for the reader's benefit, will be relevant not only to all those interested in this specific subject but also, more generally, to all those engaged in the field of international law and the law of international organizations.