He was one of the pioneers in International Law: Who is Dionisio Anzilotti?

(1867-1950) Italian lawyer. He is one of the representatives of the Positivist movement in international law. He was born in Pescia. In 1906 he was among the founders of the Rivista di Diritto Internazionale ("Journal of the Law of States"). Between 1911 and 1937 he taught at the universities of Palermo, Bologna, and Rome. In 1912 he wrote his main work, Corso di Diritto Internazionale ("Lectures on the Law of the States"). He presided over LaHay's Permanent Court of International Justice between 1923 and 1930 when he was appointed judge in 1921.

Dionisio Anzilotti (February 20, 1867 – August 23, 1950) was an Italian jurist and judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice.

The Positivist movement represented by Anzilotti argues that a distinction should be made between the political and moral aspects of international relations. According to the Positivist school, which was developed in the 17th century as a reaction to the Naturalist school that identified the law of states with natural law, the practical applications of states in the field of state law and the teachings of natural law should be separated from each other with a clear line. The first representatives of positivist law in this period, British jurist Richard Zouche, German jurist Samuel Rachel and Dutch jurist Cornelius von Bynkershoek, based the rules of international law on international treaties and customs. The positivist movement was revived as a reaction to the "Natural-Law Renaissance" movement that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has been argued that the social problems that have acquired a complex character as a result of the developments caused by the industrial revolution can only be solved by a comprehensive analysis of the existing legal rules and legal institutions. It has been argued that the law of states can be developed with an approach based on international practices by making a distinction between "what is" and "ought to be" law. Anzilotti is among the representatives of Positivism in this period.

Anzilotti's basing the binding power of the rules of international law on "agreement and fidelity" has been evaluated by some law writers as leaving the voluntarist view.

Anzilotti also advocated a voluntarist view on the relations between international law and domestic law, and adopted a dualist approach, claiming that domestic law and international law are separate and independent legal systems. According to Anzilotti, the sources of both legal systems are different. While domestic law arises from the unilateral will of the state, international law is based on interstate consent, the "compound will". It is the principle of obeying the orders of the legislator, which gives the binding power to the domestic law rules; On the other hand, the rules of international law are binding in accordance with the principle of “agreement and fidelity”. As a result of this; Just as domestic law rules cannot create rules in international law, international law rules cannot create rules that will enter into force in domestic law. Since the rules of international law cannot affect the coercive nature of domestic law rules, there can be no real conflict between the two legal systems.

Despite these theoretical views of Anzilotti, in international practice, in case of conflict between the rules of international law and the rules of domestic law, the tendency to give superiority to the law of the states has been adopted. The International Court of Justice is obliged to resolve disputes referred to it in accordance with international law. However, it has not been seen in practice that a rule of international law abolishes a national law that is contrary to it.