Research Team

Diego Mauri (Principal Investigator) is Assistant Professor of International Law at the University of Palermo. He holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Palermo. His research interests include the use of autonomous weapons systems under international law, the testing and use of anti-satellite weapons, human rights and the relationship between the international legal order and domestic legal orders. He joined the Diplomatic Mission of the Holy See at the UN GGE on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in 2016-2018 and has been invited as Expert in the Workshop on responsible use of AI in military systems in Amsterdam in 2022. He has taught International Law on the Use of Force for the Italian Air Force (Istituto di Scienze Aeronautiche Militari, Florence) in 2020-2022. In 2021 he received the Annual Prize of the Italian Society of International Law for the best research paper published in 2020.

Daniele Amoroso (Associated Investigator & Substitute Principal Investigator) is Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Cagliari. He is Associate Editor of the Italian Yearbook of International Law and National Coordinator (along with Riccardo Pavoni) of the Italian team of reporters for the Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts (ILDC). In 2021 he has joined the NATO working group HFM-330 on “Human Systems Integration for Meaningful Human Control over AI-based systems”, chaired by Mark Draper and Jurriaan van Diggelen. In 2023, he has been appointed, by the Italian Minister of Defence, as academic member of the Commission tasked with drafting the Italian Manual of International Law Applicable to Military Operations.

Pierfrancesco Rossi (Associated Investigator) is Assistant Professor of International Law at the University of Teramo and Adjunct Professor of International Law at Luiss University, Rome. He holds a PhD in international law from the University of Naples Federico II. In 2020 he received the Annual Prize of the Italian Society of International Law for the best research paper published in 2019. His publications have dealt with a variety of issues of public international law, including the jurisdictional immunities of foreign states, international organizations and diplomatic and consular agents, the interactions between international law and domestic legal orders, migration, state responsibility, and international legal personality.

Enzamaria Tramontana (Member of Research Unit) is Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Palermo, where she has recently been appointed for the teaching of a new course in “International Law and the Use of Force”. She holds a PhD in International and European Union Law from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” Her most recent research interests are the role of non-state actors in the international legal system and the international norms on the use of armed force. She has recently coordinated a United Nations Security Council Simulation Game, involving around 200 cadets from several Countries, during the Forth International Forum for Peace, Security & Prosperity (IFPSP), held in Palermo, in March 2024.

Davide Vaira (Member of Research Unit) is Research Fellow in International Law at University of Cagliari, working on the HYDRA project under the supervision of Daniele Amoroso. After graduating magna cum laude in Law at University of Foggia in 2015, in 2017 he obtained an LL.M. Master of Laws in European Law at King’s College of London specializing in European Internal Market and Regulatory Governance. He then continued his specialization in International Law and European Law at LUISS School of Government in Rome. In 2020 he was PhD student at University of Foggia in International and European Law (under the supervision of Gianpaolo Maria Ruotolo), specializing in digital markets and national cybersecurity with a specific focus on International trade of digital goods and services and the application and justiciability of the national security exception clause.

Massimo Starita (Member of Research Unit) is Full Professor of International Law at the University of Palermo, where since 2017 he has been Deputy Director of the Department of Law. He has been serving as Deputy President of the Italian Society of International Law (2023-2024). Since 2022 he has served as the UNHCR-appointed Expert of the Territorial Commission of Palermo for the recognition of international protection. Since 2019 he has joined the board of editors of the journal “Diritti umani e diritto internazionale”. His previous appointments include Director of the Master Course in “Migrations, Rights, Integration” (2019-2023). He was visiting fellow at the Université Catholique de Louvain (2013). His research interests are human rights, migrations, climate change, interpretation in international law, transitional justice. His most recent publications include : Sécurité de la navigation et contrôle international, in Journées franco-italiennes – Le contrôle international, Paris (Pédone) 2024, forthcoming; Corso di diritto internazionale (with P. De Sena), Bologna (Il Mulino), 2023; The Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Baselines: A Question of Interpretation of the UNCLOS or Evolution of Customary Law?, in Questions of International Law, Zoom-out, 91 (2022), pp. 5-21.

Pietro Gargiulo is Full Professor of International Law at the Department of Political Science of the University of Teramo where he also taught International Organization Law, European Union Law, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.
From 2016 he is Deputy Rector for Research Monitoring and from 2016 to 2019 he was Director of the Master’s Degree in International Political Studies.
In recent years, his research activities have focused on the following topics: the maintenance of international peace and security; international cooperation for the management of migratory flows; the challenges to multilateralism and the role of international organizations; the international and European protection of human rights; European citizenship; artificial intelligence, cyber security and security diplomacy.
Pietro Gargiulo is the editor-in-chief of the Review “La Comunità Internazionale” (The International Community), the Quarterly of the Italian Society for international Organization (SIOI).

Lucia Sciannella completed her undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Teramo, graduating in 1995 in Italian and Comparative Constitutional Law with a thesis titled “The origins of bicameralism in the United States of America: from the colonial experience to the Federal Constitution” under the supervision of Prof. G.G. Floridia. She achieved a score of 110/110 cum laude and was recommended for publication. Following her graduation until 2002, she collaborated with Prof. Floridia, who headed Italian and Comparative Constitutional Law and Public Law at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Teramo, as an Honorary Fellow. In the academic year 1998/99, she was admitted to the PhD course in Constitutional Law, XIV cycle, at the University of Milan, and was awarded a PhD in Constitutional Law in 2002 with a thesis on “Parliamentary privilege: historical and comparative profiles”. On 1 February 2002, she was declared the winner of a comparative evaluation procedure held by the University of Teramo for the position of university researcher in scientific sector IUS/21, and immediately assumed duties in the Faculty of Political Science. Since 1 September 2016, she has held the position of Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law in the Faculty of Communication Sciences.Pietro Gargiulo is the editor-in-chief of the Review “La Comunità Internazionale” (The International Community), the Quarterly of the Italian Society for international Organization (SIOI).

Anna Ciammariconi is Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law at the University of Teramo and Programme Director of the First-Cycle Degree Programme in Sustainable Tourism at University of Teramo. She holds a PhD in Legal Drafting from the University of Genoa. Her publications have dealt with a variety of issues of Comparative Public Law, including the Human Rights, Constitucional Justice, Comparative Constitutional Law in Latin America and Iberian Peninsula Countries.