The concept of the “common concern of humankind” (CCH) has gradually been incorporated into international law. Following the 2025 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change, its international legal status is beyond doubt. International law attributes significant consequences to the CCH qualification, which essentially fall within the sphere of State responsibility. Ulti-mately, States have taken on board the responsibility of fulfilling the obligations they have undertaken for the benefit of humanity and the international community as a whole, and not merely to pursue their own individual and collective inter-ests. Today, the concept of CCH is associated with two global challenges: climate change and biodiversity loss.
This book explores the possibility of extending the CCH designation to include the “intentional destruction of the cultural heritage of humankind” (IDCHH). A comprehensive definition of IDCHH is provided. The arguments in favour of such inclusion are based on a systematic comparison of the qualifying features of the two legal concepts: CCH and IDCHH. These arguments also consider a modern, integrated approach to solving major global problems internationally, which recog-nises the destruction of cultural heritage, climate change and the loss of biodiver-sity as interconnected phenomena requiring consistent and uniform political and legal responses.
This book explores the possibility of extending the CCH designation to include the “intentional destruction of the cultural heritage of humankind” (IDCHH)..
Introduction;
1. The Concept of Intentional Destruction of the Cultural
Heritage of Humankind (IDCHH);
2. The Concepts of Common Concern of Humankind
(CCH) and of Common Concern of the States (CC);
3. The Intentional
Destruction of the Cultural Heritage as a Common Concern of Humankind:
Specificities and Criticalities;
4. Concluding Remarks Offering Further
Insights.
Alberta Fabbricotti holds a PhD in International Law and is an Associate Profes-sor of International Law at the Department of Legal and Economic Studies (DSGE), Faculty of Law, La Sapienza University, Rome. She teaches International Law and EU Law. She is a member of the Teaching Staff Council for the doctorate in Public, Comparative and International Law, Programme in International Order and Human Rights. She has published three monographs and around seventy articles and essays on international economic law, international cultural law, the international protec-tion of human and peoples rights, and refugee law. She has led several research teams funded by La Sapienza University. She also works as an expert reviewer for the European Commission, the Italian National Agency of University System and Research Evaluation (ANVUR), the Polish National Science Centre (NCN) for the arts, humanities and social sciences, and the Italian Ministry of Education, Uni-versities and Research (MIUR) for the evaluation of research projects and results.
