Teaching code

4S003634

Teacher

Enrico Milano

Coordinator

Enrico Milano

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

IUS/13 - INTERNATIONAL LAW

Period

1° periodo di lezioni - 2° anno (1A) dal Sep 29, 2017 al Nov 9, 2017.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

The programme provides a wide-ranging analysis of institutional and normative aspects of the governance of human-made and natural disasters, with special regard to the development of a European Union policy in this regard. Moreover it focuses on what responders must do during critical period of disaster response and on how relevant actors within the EU and Member States can prepare themselves for high performance in these situations. It examines the definition of disaster in EU normative instruments and asks how organizations can effectively prepare for disasters in advance. The aim of the course is to provide students with in-depth knowledge across the whole subject area. Starting from the understanding of functions and purposes of EU intervention in case of disaster, the course will focus on legal and institutional framework for EU response. In line with the aims of the masters’ programme, in particular concerning the acquisition of legal skills, the student will acquire the capacity to identify the applicable legal regime and to apply it to concrete situations, while seeking possible solutions through sound legal reasoning and argumentation.
Except for the introductory part – which is essential in particular for students who never European Union law - the course is structured in weekly “thematic blocks” during which students will be invited to actively participate to lectures through the analysis of material that will be circulated in advance even trough the e-learning platform. The course will be held entirely in English and, together with the course coordinator, it will be taught by experts working for foreign institutions (Prof. Mauro Gatti, Prof. Erzsebet Csatlos). Students taking this course are expected to have a good knowledge of the English language.

Program

After an introduction to the relevant institutional and normative feature of the European Union post-Lisbon, the lectures will be grouped in five clusters, one per week of teaching. Each cluster will deal with a different aspect of the EU’s disaster management policy.
Cluster 1 – The Context of the EU’s Disaster Management Policy
The first cluster will define the framework of the EU’s intervention, describing the historical development of disaster management systems at the national level and elucidating the progressive development of a disaster management “cycle”, composed of four phases: prevention, preparation, response, and recovery. Then, the attention will turn to the emergence of international rules for inter-State cooperation in the 20th century, their potential and limits. Finally, the lectures will present the evolution of the EU’s disaster management policy, introducing the main legal instruments in this field.
Cluster 2 – Before the Disaster: EU Rules on Prevention and Preparation
The second cluster will concern the EU’s policy regarding the activities that precede disaster. Attention will be drawn to the human rights obligations in this sphere, stemming from international and European law. Then the focus will be on the EU rules that should facilitate the discharging of such human rights obligations. On the one hand, the rules on disaster prevention, which aim at preventing catastrophic events from occurring, notably those contained in environmental directives. On the other hand, the rules on preparation, which concern the organisation of disaster management resources to better address catastrophes.
Cluster 3 – During the Disaster: EU Disaster Response Policy
The third cluster will investigate the EU rules that are applied in the pivotal phase of disaster management: response. This phase corresponds to the use of resources to save lives and protect property in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The lectures will highlight the human rights obligations in this field, especially in terms of the States’ obligation to protect lives. Then the lectures will elucidate the EU’s contribution in this field, notably in respect of the activation of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and the liaison role of the European Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission.
Cluster 4 -After the Disaster: The EU’s Initiatives on Disaster Recovery
The last phase of disaster management – recovery – covers the initiatives that public authorities put into place after disasters to allow returning to normal conditions of life. Cluster 4 lectures will show that human rights law imposes relevant obligations on States in this phase and that the Union facilitates the discharging of such obligations. The attention will focus, on the one hand, on EU State aid rules, that enable EU Member States to make good damages suffered by companies in case of disasters and, on the other hand, on the positive contribution of the EU to recovery, notably through the EU Solidarity Fund.
Cluster 5 – EU consular assistance
The fifth cluster will deal with the existing EU mechanisms of consular assistance in third countries to the advantage of EU citizens, with special regard to assistance subsequent to natural disasters.

Examination Methods

Students attending classes will be evaluated through a written exam articulated in a part concerning the knowledge of relevant notions, through multiple choices questions, and a part of critical elaboration of the topics deals with during the lectures.

Students not attending classes will be evaluated through an oral exam on the basis of material posted on the e-learning website and relevant readings. As for the written exam, the oral exam will be aimed at ascertaining the understanding of relevant notions and the ability to critically elaborate specific analyses of relevant issues.

Teaching materials e documents

•   Programma e testi consigliati   (octet-stream, it, 94 KB, 27/07/17)