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Bio

Alessandro Mario Amoroso is a Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in international law at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa. His work focuses on international law and armed conflict, in particular international humanitarian law, human rights law, counter-terrorism law, international criminal law, and the law of the use of force.

Before joining academia, he worked as a Legal Adviser at the International Committee of the Red Cross and as a Programme Officer in Security and Law at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Recently, he lectured at the Advanced IHL course of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo; he was a Visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law; he co-edited a special journal issue on the Juba Agreement for Peace in Sudan. He coordinated a team of students from Scuola Sant’Anna participating in the Italian Navy’s military exercise “Mare Aperto”.

In 2024, his doctoral dissertation was awarded the PhD thesis Prize "Tullio Vinay" by the International Research Institute - Archivio Disarmo. In 2022, he received the SIDI Prize for the best journal article on international law by the Italian Society of International and EU Law.

He holds a PhD cum laude in Human Rights and Global Politics from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, an LLM cum laude in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Geneva Academy (Graduate Institute and University of Geneva) and a Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza summa cum laude from the University of Naples Federico II.

He speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish, and he is learning Arabic.

Research

His research centres on the study of international law and global security, with a focus on international humanitarian law, human rights law, counter-terrorism law, international criminal law, and the law of the use of force in international relations.

He is currently focusing on international sanctions, in particular the EU restrictive measures against Russia, and on naval missions protecting maritime security. He is a member of the research group DignITA - The international protection of human dignity through criminal law".

In his research, he has delved into the following topics: military assistance, arms transfer, partnered military operations, non-State armed groups, counter-terrorism law, international criminal justice, national implementation of international law.

 

Publications

Courses

Conference and seminar presentations

La dignità umana: un viaggio dai margini al centro del diritto internazionale. Seminar “La nozione di dignità umana tra obblighi internazionali di tutela e diritto penale”, University of Ferrara, 19 September 2023.

Can States “lawfully” support armed groups? Visiting fellows seminar, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, 7 March 2023.

Gestione di crisi e regole di ingaggio: la principale esercitazione della Marina Militare italiana . Event organized by Blutopia: Forum Mediterraneo (online), 26 January 2022.

Models for national implementation of international law governing partnered operations. Conference “Partnered Operations and International Law”, European Society of International Law and American Society of International Law (online), 24 September 2021.

Status giuridico della nave da guerra in situazioni di crisi internazionale. Seminar cycle “Mare Aperto 21”, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, 26 July 2021.

Criminal repression of CBRN-related violations which do not amount to international crimes. Seminar “Mapping international obligations applicable to CBRN events” (online), 14 April 2021.

The exercise of criminal jurisdiction by armed non-state actors: Benefits or simply risks? XII Seminar for Legal Advisors of the Armed Forces, International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, Geneva, 20 June 2019.

 

Courses

Terrorism and Insurgency in War and Peace (International Humanitarian Law module), Master in International Security Studies, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, a.y. 2023-2024.

Advanced IHL course, International Institute of Humanitarian Law, June 2024 (member of the teaching staff).

 

Lectures

Current challenges to IHL in light of the 2023-2024 Israel-Hamas war. Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, 8 February 2024.

Crash course in international law. Sources and actors of international law. Master in International Security Studies, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, 20 September 2023.

Weapons of mass destruction and international law. Master in International Security Studies, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, 5 April 2023.

The law of belligerent occupation. Master in International Security Studies, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, 3 April 2023.

Rebel detention and rebel justice: Armed groups wannabe States? Master in Human Rights and Conflict Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa, 24 May 2021.

Conduite des hostilités et méthodes et moyens de guerre. Master in Relations internationales – Action humanitaire, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales - Paris, 26 September 2019.

Integrating the Law in Military Operations. IHL course for officers of the armed forces - Thessaloniki, 18-19 September 2019.

IHL: Principles, scope of application, conduct of hostilities and means and methods of warfare. IHL course, Summer School of the International Institute of Human Rights - Strasbourg, 22-23 July 2019.