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Gli eventi all'oggetto della pronuncia sul caso XYZ v. Republic of Benin (African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, The Matter of XYZ v. Republic of Benin, Application No. 010/2020, Judgment, 27 novembre 2020 [The Matter of XYZ]) si dipanano all'indomani delle consultazioni parlamentari nel paese del 28 aprile 2019. Per effetto di una riforma del sistema elettorale varata alla vigilia delle votazioni, gli 83 seggi dell'organo legislativo erano divisi tra due soli partiti, entrambi vicini al Presidente della Repubblica e Capo di governo Patrice Talon. Nell'intento di sedare le crescenti proteste nel paese, egli convocava per il successivo ottobre un incontro con le forze politiche – cui non partecipavano i principali partiti di opposizione – volto a preparare le consultazioni locali e presidenziali del 2020 e del 2021 ed a riorganizzarne la disciplina elettorale (The Matter of XYZ, §89). A tal fine, un apposito comitato di esperti era incaricato di redigere un rapporto contenente alcune raccomandazioni sugli interventi legislativi più opportuni. Tra essi non figurava una modifica del dettato costituzionale del Benin che, invece, con una procedura emergenziale ed in assenza di pubblicità, il Parlamento adottava lo stesso mese (The Matter of XYZ, §92). Il testo della riforma era sottoposto al vaglio della Corte costituzionale (The Matter of XYZ, §54) presieduta dal signor Djogbenou, un politico vicino al Capo di governo e già proponente (in qualità di ex Ministro della giustizia) di una revisione della carta fondamentale, giudicata però incostituzionale dal medesimo tribunale di cui era poi divenuto membro. Ottenuto il placet della Corte costituzionale, la legge di riforma 2019-40 era, quindi, promulgata il 7 novembre 2019. Con essa, due articoli della Costituzione erano soppressi e più di quaranta emendati ovvero introdotti ex novo (gli articoli 46 e 47 della Costituzione sono stati cancellati; si è proceduto, invece, alla modifica degli articoli 5, 15, 26, 41-45, 48-50, 52-54, 56, 62, 80-82, 92, 99, 111, 117, 119, 131, 132, 134, 143, 145, 151, 153, 157, e del titolo VI).

The concept of human security entered the doctrinal debate since it was first recalled in the 1994 United Nations Development Programme report on Human Development. As 'a shifting and bridging concept', the notion has the merit to emphasize that State security has no longer solely a military dimension, but also economic, environmental and health components. In particular, biodiversity is the foundation of human health, since it implies food security, regulation and control of infectious diseases and also provides relevant and undiscovered resources for medical research. Specific relevance is attached to marine genetic resources (MGRs) of the deep seabed and the adjacent water column due to their ability to survive in extreme conditions, which make them particularly suitable as a source of new drugs and for the role they can play in the so-called carbon cycle. Deep-sea MGRs mostly live in a symbiotic way with mineral resources of the seabed, ocean floors and subsoils beyond national jurisdiction (the Area), of whose growth they are responsible, as it is the case for hydrothermal vents and polymetallic sulfides deposits. The protection of MGRs in both the Area and the High Seas has long been discussed under the existing framework of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS or the Convention) and some legal gaps have been identified. While an Intergovernmental Conference has been convened to conclude a legally binding instrument under the UNCLOS for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, in the light of its uncertain outcomes this paper will focus on how the International Seabed Authority (ISA or the Authority) could ensure the protection of MGRs under the Convention's applicable legal framework. The most relevant provision in this regard is article 145 of the UNCLOS which, aside from requiring the ISA to adopt measures aimed at preventing, reducing and controlling pollution and hazards to the Area, also entrusts the Authority to hinder any damage to the flora and fauna of the marine environment at large which might arise from the exploration and exploitation of the mineral resources. Although it is clear that the Authority is mainly and foremost the organization through which State parties organize and control their activities related to the minerals of the Area, it is debated whether the Authority already has any general competence with regard to the protection of MGRs of the Area and the related water column. In fact, on the one hand, the ISA, sticking to the vertical division of the ocean spaces provided by the UNCLOS, could eventually exercise its environmental mandate on MGRs only in the context of the hazardous activities conducted under Part XI of the Convention and, ratione loci, only with regard to the Area and its mineral resources. On the other hand, the reasonableness of the existing boundaries between the Area and its adjacent water column is questionable as an ecosystem approach would be preferred by reason of the interdependence of the biodiversity services of a given area, whatever the conducted activity. This paper will argue that the ecosystem approach, which is widely recognised as a guiding principle under International Environmental Law, and that is even recalled in the preamble of the UNCLOS, would represent the best option in the interest of the biological integrity and human security. The pivotal role already played by the Authority in the field will be demonstrated by referring to its current contribution to the protection of the marine environment through its prescriptive and enforcement powers and by taking into account its law-making and practice. For instance, through its Regional Environmental Management Plan for the Clarion-Clipperton zone, the ISA has identified some Areas of Particular Environmental Interest, which are de facto marine protected areas aimed at granting the preservation of the living resources of the seabed and the water column of one of the rarest biological communities of the oceans. Since the ISA is the only global institution that is currently ensuring a certain protection to MGRs, the clear recognition of its wider environmental mandate in the field would prove the most immediate and suitable solution for their effective preservation, as the Authority owns comprehensive information on the mainly unknown biological deep-sea communities. This would also prevent that, while contractors for mining operations are required to stick to increasingly stringent environmental provisions, like those contained in the Mining Code, the bioprospection and use of MGRs could be arbitrarily conducted with no guarantee of any preservation of specific ecosystem services.

The Economic Community of West African States (the ECOWASor the Community)1Court of Justice (the ECOWAS Court, the Court, or the ECCJ) is one of the leading sub-regional tribunals of the African continent. Originally conceived as a traditional Community Court entrusted to solve inter-State disputes relating to the ECOWAS law, the ECCJ experienced an articulated and uneasy reorganisation, in line with the evolving ECOWAS priorities.After a worrying initial inactivity, and with the inclusion of human rights concerns into the West African agenda, the ECCJ was also given competence to hear cases of human rights violations, thus transforming into a hybrid "two-in-one" tribunal.Since then, the case load of the ECCJ mostly centred on this part of its mandate and, while the Court is sustaining the creation of a stable and conflict free environment in the region, it has rarely exercised jurisdiction on Community law. Running contrary to the expectations of its founding fathers, the ECCJ is now increasingly called to play a proactive role in favouring the ECOWAS effective integration. This paper will briefly introduce the context of regional and sub-regional integration in Africa. In accordance with the highlighted stages of sub-regional integration, the ECOWAS will be analysed in its main institutional features. In particular, the ECCJ will be considered from its evolutive perspective, by adequately marking the relevant steps towards the today's configuration. A specific focus will be given to the "layering" of the human rights mandate to highlight its very unique traits. Having regard to the original project of ECOWAS policymakers to create a Court which resembled, from the institutional perspective and for its role in the advancement of the integration process, the European Court of Justice (ECJ),this contribution will also discuss to which extent the ECJ model has been implemented in the ECOWAS system.Taking into account the tools used by the ECJ to facilitate the achievement of the Community goals, an evaluation of the diversion effect of the ECCJ human rights mandate will show that the primacy of human rights litigation over Community disputes could even result in the Court's "judicial suicide".

All'approssimarsi del primo ventennio dall'adozione della nota risoluzione 1325 (2000) del Consiglio di sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite e nel ricorrere del decennale dall'istituzione del mandato della Rappresentante speciale per la risposta dell'ONU alla violenza sessuale commessa nel corso dei conflitti armati, una breve riflessione sull'Agenda "donne, pace e sicurezza" e sugli obiettivi ad oggi raggiunti appare di particolare attualità. Nel corso dei primi mesi del 2019, si è registrata un'intensa attività del Consiglio di sicurezza, attraverso incontri formali ed informali e con il coinvolgimento della società civile, sul tema della sicurezza delle donne nel corso dei conflitti armati. (2019), adottata lo scorso 23 aprile, che, dopo quattro anni di inattività in tema di women, peace and security da parte del Consiglio, ha offerto un approccio fortemente operationally-oriented all'eliminazione della violenza sessuale ai danni delle donne nei teatri di guerra. Oltre ad essere indicativa della complessità degli equilibri politici in seno al Consiglio, essa si distingue soprattutto per un marcato riferimento alla condizione dei sopravvissuti al crimine di rape.