Papers by Riccardo Mazzola
Sociologia del diritto, 2020
This article takes on Ignasi Terradas’ latest book La justicia más antigua (2019) in the attempt ... more This article takes on Ignasi Terradas’ latest book La justicia más antigua (2019) in the attempt to conceptualize "vindicatory justice" through a formalization - inspired by Theodor Geiger’s Vorstudien zu einer Soziologie des Rechts - of its fundamental notions and principles. This study identifies (I) three key concepts constituting an essential lexicon of vindicatory justice: (I.i) offense, (I.ii) defenselessness (I.iii) composition; and (II) three basic principles underlying vindicatory justice: (II.i) principle of universal answerability (PUA) (II.ii) principle of reconciliation (PR) (II.iii) principle of ancillary vengeance (PAV).
Stato, chiese e pluralismo confessionale, 2020
This work takes on the relationship between law and religion in Indigenous Australian societies, ... more This work takes on the relationship between law and religion in Indigenous Australian societies, particularly focusing on Yolngu group (North-East Arnham Land). The essay aims to enlighten the nature of the “connection” between “legal” and “sacred” dimensions of Yolngu culture and cosmology, originally noted in several Australian judicial decisions and governamental reports. First, the essay undertakes a linguistic analysis of Yolngu terminology surrounding law, presenting three Yolngu terms translatable as “law” and discussing their meaning and bond with Yolngu sacred ancestors and ritual objects and ceremonies. Second, it explains the essence of the connection between law, sacred ancestors and ritual objects and ceremonies by presenting the Yolngu linguistic and conceptual category of “likan”. The article concludes that Yolngu law is a “sacred” one in at least a two-fold way: beacuse it was surrendered to humans by sacred ancestors; and since it arises from ritual objects and ceremonies.
OÑATI SOCIO-LEGAL SERIES, 2020
The main claim of this study is that a dynamic repertoire of Indigenous linguistic conducts and j... more The main claim of this study is that a dynamic repertoire of Indigenous linguistic conducts and judicial strategies exists in Yolngu (Australia) artworks misappropriation cases discussed before Australian courts, and that its examination helps to clarify Indigenous perspectives on the property of sacred art. This essay – covering an almost untouched field in the literature on “Indigenous intellectual property” – enlightens Yolngu judicial strategies as their answer to the conundrum between the risk of a loss of their cultural identity and the advantage potentially deriving from a state recognition of Indigenous “intellectual property” rights. This study mainly relies on Yolngu and other subjects’ affidavits released throughout five significant 1990s lawsuits. Affidavits clearly show the two-folded nature of Yolngu judicial discourse on sacred art and copyright, simultaneously insisting on and (implicitly) dismissing an interpretation of Indigenous paintings as “intellectual property”.
Sociologia del diritto, 47(3), 2019
As a central element of certain systems of justice, revenge-feuding actions are usually considere... more As a central element of certain systems of justice, revenge-feuding actions are usually considered as unregulated responses to offenses and misbehaviours modern law has solved and displaced. On the contrary, the theoretical paradigm of “vindicatory justice” highlights how these actions are not spontaneous reactions. Rather, they are submitted to forms of collective surveillance and authorization, and they may constitute a different form of conceiving and materializing justice. In fact, historical and ethnographic case studies have proved how vindicatory justice has not disappeared, being rather outdone in its relationship with the law of the State. Working on the two case studies of Shuar (West Ecuador) and Yolngu (Australia), this essay aims to elucidate the idiosyncrasy inherent to vindicatory cultures and highlight their complex relationship with State law.
This paper investigates two main connotations attributed to vengeance (as a social practice) by F... more This paper investigates two main connotations attributed to vengeance (as a social practice) by French lawyer and ethnographer Jacques Busquet: the universality of revenge-system and the legal nature of revenge.
Sociologia del diritto, 2019
Relying on Giuseppe Lorini and Michelina Masia’s insightful book Antropologia della vendetta (201... more Relying on Giuseppe Lorini and Michelina Masia’s insightful book Antropologia della vendetta (2015), this essay concisely reflects upon the twofold dimension of the rela-tionship between the institution of revenge and state law: section 2 takes on the topic of the coexistence of “institutional” revenge and state law as different legal systems (i.e., as a case of legal pluralism), while section 3 touches upon the theme of the persistence of “institutional” revenge within state law, particularly focusing on the institution of puni-tive damages.
Materiali per una storia della cultura giuridica, 2019
The present essay analyses a judicial phenomenon widespread in post-colonial societies and here c... more The present essay analyses a judicial phenomenon widespread in post-colonial societies and here called “cultural evidence”. A cultural evidence is a kind of evidence that aims to prove the existence of a legal relationship (typically a collective property right) of an Indigenous population over a specific piece of land. The cultural evidence is usually produced by the exhibition of an artefact or a cultural performance (a song, a dance, a ceremony) before the Court. The present article tries to answer the following question: How can a cultural evidence prove the existence of a juridical relationship (in the context of Indigenous territorial claims)? The main aim of the essay, which examines the specific case of Yolngu population (Australia) is to show how this question can be answered in a three-fold way, depending on the context we are referring to: the Yolngu cosmology (§2), the Australian procedural law (§3), the intercultural negotiation setting (§4).
Il presente studio prende in esame uno specifico fenomeno processuale: la “prova-per-manufatto”, ... more Il presente studio prende in esame uno specifico fenomeno processuale: la “prova-per-manufatto”, ovvero l’esibizione di manufatti aborigeni, nel contesto dei land claims indigeni di fronte alle Corti australiane, quali prove intese a dimostrare il fondamento giuridico della relazione tra Aborigeni e territorio. Sul piano giudiziale, la prova-per-manufatto costituisce un nuovo e non tradizionale mezzo di prova, spia della maggiore flessibilità accordata dal diritto processuale australiano alle evidences aborigene, rispetto ai formali requisiti probatori prescritti dal rule of evidence. Sul piano teoretico, la prova-per-manufatto suscita tuttavia una più ampia riflessione sulla natura stessa del “diritto” aborigeno e sugli effetti, talvolta peculiari, dell’interazione tra culture giuridiche in un contesto giudiziale.
This paper offers an analysis of the collisions between Indigenous (Australian) normative systems... more This paper offers an analysis of the collisions between Indigenous (Australian) normative systems on intangible resources and the Western intellectual property regimes. This study focuses prominently on Yolngu people of North-East Arnhem Land. The first part of the paper tackles the ‘inter-ethnic’ use of a specific notion: ‘tjuringa’. This is an Indigenous Australian term adopted by Western legal language to identify those Indigenous sacred objects that incorporate native knowledge. This concept provides for a key interpretive tool to understand the ‘cosmological’ connections that articulate the Indigenous Australian understanding of the production of their knowledge and their cultural objects. The second part of the paper outlines the standard structure of a Yolngu knowledge system, that is the Indigenous normative regime governing the creation and the management of the Yolngu knowledge. The third and last part of the paper explains what issues prevent an interpretation of tjuringa as intellectual property objects.
The interpretation of vendetta as a mere criminal practice, with no “legal” or “juridical” nature... more The interpretation of vendetta as a mere criminal practice, with no “legal” or “juridical” nature, has characterized several scientific studies on and literary approaches to Corsican folk-law. Such interpretation was explicitly dismissed by Jacques Busquet’s 1920 Le droit de la vendetta et les paci corses, almost overlooked by ethnographers and legal philosophers studying the notion of “vindicatory justice”. The present work illustrates the content of Busquet’s work and shows how, in several regards, Le droit de la vendetta et les paci corses anticipated Antonio Pigliaru’s well-known La vendetta barbaricina come ordinamento giuridico (1959), a ground-breaking study concerning the interpreta-tion of revenge folk-systems as legal regimes.
Il presente articolo dà conto di un’interpretazione in chiave filosofica
del concetto giuridico d... more Il presente articolo dà conto di un’interpretazione in chiave filosofica
del concetto giuridico di “bene immateriale”, proposta dal
giurista italiano Franco Voltaggio Lucchesi nell’opera "I beni immateriali" (1962).
Final version of this paper in: Paolo Di Lucia and Letizia Mancini (eds.), La giustizia vendicato... more Final version of this paper in: Paolo Di Lucia and Letizia Mancini (eds.), La giustizia vendicatoria, Pisa: ETS, pp. 225-281.
Conference Presentations by Riccardo Mazzola
Presented at the Coloquio Internacional de Estudiantes de Doctorado Italia-Mexico, UNAM (Mexico C... more Presented at the Coloquio Internacional de Estudiantes de Doctorado Italia-Mexico, UNAM (Mexico City), 19 June
In the last two decades of 20th century, several copyright cases concerning misappropriations of ... more In the last two decades of 20th century, several copyright cases concerning misappropriations of Indigenous Australian artworks and ritual elements were discussed before Australian Courts. On the one hand, Australian trials have exposed many conceptual and practical difficulties in applying ‘western’ IP categories to describe and protect Indigenous artworks. On the other hand, Indigenous copyright lawsuits have highlighted a specific and dynamic repertoire of linguistic conducts and pragmatic strategies implemented by Yolngu as stakeholders in an inter-ethnic negotiation process. More generally, this work aims to discuss Yolngu judicial language and strategies in order to engage in a critical reflection on the way in which such dialectics have constituted legal pluralism and cultural difference in Australia.
Books by Riccardo Mazzola
Giuffré Francis Lefevbre, 2020
Il libro descrive le caratteristiche essenziali di un paradigma ¿ il paradigma vendicatorio ¿ che... more Il libro descrive le caratteristiche essenziali di un paradigma ¿ il paradigma vendicatorio ¿ che propone modalità di gestione del conflitto alternative rispetto alle più tradizionali soluzioni offerte dal diritto civile e penale. In particolare, il libro è da intendersi come una guida teorica allo studio della composizione: la dazione (materiale/in denaro) che, nel contesto degli ordinamenti vendicatòri, consente all¿offensore, secondo l¿interpretazione comune, di ¿riscattare¿ la vendetta. Il primo capitolo (Composizione, compensazione, non-risarcibilità) introduce la discussione sulla la natura della composizione, illustrando l'intensione di tre concetti: (i) 'composizione', (ii) 'compensazione', (iii) 'non-risarcibilità'. Il secondo capitolo (Il debito d'onore) delinea le principali caratteristiche del 'debito' presupposto dall'istituto della composizione: il debito, cioè, che sorge a causa di una lesione dell'onore. Il terzo capitolo (La composizione nel procedimento vendicatorio) illustra collocazione (nell'ordinamento vendicatorio) e struttura giuridica della composizione. Il quarto capitolo (Prime riflessioni per una comparazione tra giustizia vendicatoria e giustizia riparativa) presenta alcuni spunti di riflessione relativi al confronto tra la composizione - nel contesto degli ordinamenti vendicatòri - e la riparazione - tratto distintivo dei percorsi di giustizia riparativa.
Il rapporto tra diritto e vendetta può essere inteso in almeno tre modi che corrispondono a tre d... more Il rapporto tra diritto e vendetta può essere inteso in almeno tre modi che corrispondono a tre dei modi con i quali, secondo Norberto Bobbio, si può intendere il rapporto tra diritto e guerra. La vendetta, così come la guerra, può infatti essere considerata come antitesi del diritto, come mezzo per realizzare il diritto, come oggetto del diritto. Il volume Vindicta. Studi e testi sulla giustizia vendicatoria indaga la complessa rete di relazioni che legano il diritto alla vendetta, raccogliendo sette contributi (pubblicati tra il 1894 e il 1979) provenienti da tre diverse aree disciplinari: la storia del diritto (William Robertson Smith, Giovanni Tamassia, Otto Brunner), l’antropologia giuridica (Albert Hermann Post e Jacques Busquet), la filosofia (José Gil e René Girard). Il volume si prefigge lo scopo di fornire al lettore un vocabolario essenziale per comprendere la genesi, la struttura e il funzionamento degli ordinamenti della giustizia vendicatoria. Ciascuno dei sette contributi contenuti nel volume è preceduto da uno studio introduttivo che inquadra storicamente l’autore del testo e ne illustra le principali tesi. Autori degli studi introduttivi sono Anna Linda Callow, Cosimo Nicolini Coen, Ignasi Terradas Saborit, Tito Marci, Kaius Tuori, Riccardo Mazzola, Stefano Sammarco, Raffaella Colombo.
The volume shares the (today) common idea that a conceptualization of Indigenous knowledge and cu... more The volume shares the (today) common idea that a conceptualization of Indigenous knowledge and culture as “intellectual property” is essentially an inaccurate one. With specific reference to Yolngu people of North-East Arnhem Land (Australia), this study aims precisely to explain why Western “property-ownership” constructs and categories do not fit Indigenous cultural objects and performances.
Book Reviews by Riccardo Mazzola
Rivista italiana di diritto e procedura penale , 2019
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Papers by Riccardo Mazzola
del concetto giuridico di “bene immateriale”, proposta dal
giurista italiano Franco Voltaggio Lucchesi nell’opera "I beni immateriali" (1962).
Conference Presentations by Riccardo Mazzola
Books by Riccardo Mazzola
Book Reviews by Riccardo Mazzola
del concetto giuridico di “bene immateriale”, proposta dal
giurista italiano Franco Voltaggio Lucchesi nell’opera "I beni immateriali" (1962).