Solidarity in International Law

The principle of solidarity is particularly important now because it is in juxtaposition to some current self-centered trends in politics: the crises that have upset the world in recent years, such as migrations, hegemonic aspirations, pandemics, and wars, have made self-evident the inadequacy of such selfish politics. It therefore seems very useful to understand the role that solidarity could play in contemporary scenarios. This book thus collects various contributions on the principle of solidarity in international law. Firstly, it reconstructs the foundations of solidarity in law and investigates the origins of the principle. Subsequently, it tries to ascertain if solidarity exists as a principle in international law and, if so, what its scope is. The book then examines the eventual implementation of the principle of solidarity in regional organizations law: the question is whether solidarity is more effective and if it is actually better fulfilled when relationships between states get stronger, such as in regional and sub-regional organizations. Such implementation is notable in EU Law, but the analysis also involves other regional and sub-regional organizations, namely the African Union, ECOWAS, the League of Arab States, and MERCOSUR. This book takes into account not only some distinctive areas of solidarity, such as migration law, or specific institutional contexts where solidarity is a declared principle, objective or value, for example, the European Union, but it also considers whether, and to what extent, the manifestations of solidarity differ in disparate settings, trying to discover the reasons behind such divergences. The book will be of interest to researchers and academics in the areas of International Law, International Organizations Law, European Law, Human Rights Law, Business Law, and Constitutional Law.

Leonardo Pasquali is Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Pisa, Italy. He is currently the Leader and Academic Coordinator of the "Solidarity in EU Law" Jean Monnet Module. He is also a member of the Academic Board of the PhD Programme in Law and the PPGD (mestrado e doutorado) Programme in Law at the Catholic University of Pernambuco (UNICAP), Brazil; additionally, he is a member of the Editorial Committee of European and Latin-American academic journals. He teaches in the areas of International Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Judicial Cooperation, International Organizations Law and EU Law. He has published extensively on these and related subjects in English, French, Italian and Spanish. Leonardo Pasquali is a Founding Partner at Studio Legale Pasquali.

1. Introduction. Solidarity: traditional international law vs. modern international law and universal international law vs. law of regional organizations  2. Historical background of solidarity in European law  3. Solidarity between law and religion  4. Solidarity and constitutional law in Italy and other European countries  5. Federalism, the principle of solidarity and the third stage in the division of competences  6. A realistic solidarity: Immanuel Kant's legacy for modern Europe  7. The dynamics between interest and solidarity as the functional basis of current international law  8. Solidarity and international investment law: reconciliation within the institutional framework  9. International solidarity and human rights. Some remarks about the draft United Nations declaration on the right to international solidarity  10. Solidarity in the EU. Beyond EU treaty provisions on solidarity  11. The reform of the Common European Asylum System: the new Pact on immigration and asylum  12. Solidarity with candidate States: the case of the Western Balkans  13. Solidarity among member states of regional organizations as a development of the good faith principle  14. Solidarity in the African System  15. Solidarity in ECOWAS, a sub-regional African organisation with relevant similarities to the EU  16. Solidarity in the League of Arab States  17. Solidarity in the law of MERCOSUR  18. Epilogue: lessons, questions, and outlook