Come e quando le norme internazionali operano negli ordinamenti statali

In this chapter the main issues concerning legal effects of international legal rules in domestic orders are examined in a systematic way. This investigation is underpinned by the following five pillars. First, the idea that States are not bound by international obligations in this respect. Second, that despite the persistent (albeit limited) importance of formal models of incorporation of international law into domestic law, a central role is played by domestic courts, with particular regard to the identification of self-"executing" rules. Third, that international legal rules may sometimes produce legal effects in domestic orders, even in the absence of a formal incorporation into domestic law. Fourth, that insofar as the Italian Constitution is concerned, art. 11 cannot be construed as a device aimed at incorporating general international law. Fifth, that the well known judgments 348 and 349 of the italian constitutional Court have paved the way to some sensitive issues, relating both to the extension of their "dicta" and the direct applicability of the ECHR by national judges.