L'acquiescenza nel diritto internazionale

Silence as a legal fact constitutes a passive conduct which, adopted by a legal entity under particular circumstances, produces certain legal effects. The silence of States is an international legal fact. It shall be classified as a legal act when voluntary or intentional, and as a juridical fact stricto sensu when, albeit involuntary because unintentional, it still produces legal effects. On the basis of said distinction, this thesis aims to deepen and rationalize the juridical value of the silence of States in international law. The thesis is divided into five Chapters. Chapter I analyses silence as a legal act, namely the phenomenon of acquiescence. Chapters II, III and IV describe the legal concepts of international law within which acquiescence plays a role in the production of legal effects. Chapter II is dedicated to acquisitive prescription, while Chapter III examines how the silence of States affects the formation, development, interpretation and extinction of the sources of the international legal system. Chapter IV addresses further areas of international law with reference to the application of acquiescence. Chapter V deals with the silence of States as a juridical fact stricto sensu. The latter does not integrate a qualified conduct to which the international legal order attributes the production of legal effects, but one of those segments which make up a legal concept of international law. International law provides at least two legal concept that contemplate the existence of an involuntary silence: estoppel by silence and extinctive prescription. Eventually, the thesis draws some conclusions on the importance that the silence of States has in international law. The aim is to formulate a general theory on a phenomenon that is often overlooked or, in any case, addressed by international legal scholarship with a purely sector-by-sector and, therefore, inadequate approach.