State Immunity and the Rights of Employees: Lights and Shadows of the Strasbourg Court’s Jurisprudence

This paper analyzes the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on the relationship between state immunity and the foreign state employees’ right of access to a court, protected under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. While acknowledging that the case law of the Strasbourg Court has in many respects contributed to providing employees of foreign states with broader access to the courts of the receiving states, the paper submits that the Court’s handling of labor cases presents some major flaws. Namely, it is argued that (i) the Court’s assessment of the norms of customary international law in the area of state immunity from employment lawsuits is ill-proven and largely unconvincing; (ii) this flawed assessment of custom has had a negative impact on the scope of the employees’ right of access to a court; and (iii) under the approach followed by the Strasbourg Court, certain categories of state employees may be left without any judicial means of obtaining redress. It appears crucial that the Court addresses such flaws in future cases

L'interpretazione conforme alla giurisprudenza della Corte EDU: quale vincolo per il giudice italiano?

The Italian Constitutional Court\u2019s current approach to the value of ECtHR case law in domestic proceedings, as most recently framed in Judgment No. 49/2015, has provoked criticism from commentators and given rise to inconsistent judicial practice. After an analysis of the main features of this approach, this article makes two proposals in order to address its shortcomings. Firstly, it suggests that the obligation to interpret domestic law consistently with ECtHR case law should be qualified as a \u2018duty to take into account\u2019. Pursuant to this model, which is adopted inter alia by UK and German courts, national judges must consider all ECtHR precedents relevant to their decision, but are allowed to depart from them by putting forward cogent substantive arguments. It is argued that this model can reconcile the need to promote compliance with ECtHR case law with the need to safeguard the scope of liberty that the ECHR itself provides to national courts. Secondly, the paper contends that, in order to give an adequate constitutional foundation to the \u2018duty to take into account\u2019 ECtHR case law, the Italian Constitutional Court might follow in the footsteps of the German Constitutional Court and adopt an axiological conception of consistent interpretation. That is, the \u2018duty to take into account\u2019 might be grounded on the openness of the Italian Constitution towards international law, rather than on the ECHR\u2019s status in the Italian hierarchy of laws

Domestic Application of International Law and the Latitude of National Political Authorities

La tesi analizza le modalità di applicazione del diritto internazionale a livello interno, con particolare riguardo al ruolo svolto dalle autorità politiche nazionali

Molecular analysis and associated pathology of beak and feather disease virus isolated in Italy from young Congo African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) with an "atypical peracute form" of the disease

This study is the first report on the genetic and pathogenic characterization of beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) occurring in Italy. Twenty BFDV strains isolated in Italy from juvenile Congo African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) were investigated. Seventeen strains showed an "atypical peracute form" (aPF) of the disease, and three a chronic form (CF). The birds with aPF had been weaned, were independent as far as food and protection were concerned and apparently were without lesions. The gene coding for the putative coat protein was amplified in all isolates while the BFDV genome was sequenced completely in 10 samples, eight of them belonging to aPF affected birds and two from CF of the disease. All full genomes clustered into the J strain of BFDV, where two new subtypes were identified. Recombination analyses showed evidence of genetic exchanges in two BFDV genomes. In addition, a correlation between viral isolate and origin of the breeding material was shown, while an association between the genetic features of the virus and the clinical form was not observed. Histologically, apoptosis was detected frequently in aPF samples and sporadically in CF samples. Interestingly, BFDV antigens were detected in the nuclei and cytoplasm of such apoptotic cells. The data presented here support the hypothesis that, in the absence of a defined BFDV genetic variant accountable for a specific clinical form of psittacine beak and feather disease, differences in the apoptotic rate between aPF and CF are strictly host related

Garlic consumption in relation to colorectal cancer risk and to alterations of blood bacterial DNA

PURPOSE: Garlic consumption has been inversely associated to intestinal adenoma (IA) and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, although evidence is not consistent. Gut microbiota has been implied in CRC pathogenesis and is also influenced by garlic consumption. We analyzed whether dietary garlic influence CRC risk and bacterial DNA in blood. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study in Italy involving 100 incident CRC cases, 100 IA and 100 healthy controls matched by center, sex and age. We used a validated food frequency questionnaire to assess dietary habits and garlic consumption. Blood bacterial DNA profile was estimated using qPCR and16S rRNA gene profiling. We derived odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of IA and CRC according to garlic consumption from multiple conditional logistic regression. We used Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests to evaluate taxa differences in abundance and prevalence. RESULTS: The OR of CRC for medium/high versus low/null garlic consumption was 0.27 (95% CI = 0.11-0.66). Differences in garlic consumption were found for selected blood bacterial taxa. Medium/high garlic consumption was associated to an increase of Corynebacteriales order, Nocardiaceae family and Rhodococcus genus, and to a decrease of Family XI and Finegoldia genus. CONCLUSIONS: The study adds data on the protective effect of dietary garlic on CRC risk. Moreover, it supports evidence of a translocation of bacterial material to bloodstream and corroborates the hypothesis of a diet-microbiota axis as a mechanism behind the role of garlic in CRC prevention

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients