The HELP project has sought to clarify the concept of Legal Preparedness as applicable to public health emergencies; analyse the relevant International and European human rights obligations relevant to this topic; and examine Italy’s capacity in this context, also to foster its ability to make a significant contribution in supranational fora. Moreover, it has dedicated a special focus on the EU-African Union cooperation mechanisms.
The results of this work have taken the shape of a series of academic publications. Being a legal project, HELP was based on the traditional research methodology characterizing this type of investigation under international and EU law. However, the project has also incorporated perspectives coming from other disciplines, taking into account inputs from public health and legal practitioners.
The analysis carried out during the project has mainly aimed at:
• investigating the scope of application of relevant hard and soft law measures;
• assessing the links between the legal measures considered;
• spotting normative gaps and proposing solutions to fill them, as well as possible coordination mechanisms between different normative levels.
To address the needs of exhaustiveness and consistency, the key legal branches addressed by the project are Global Health Law; International Disaster Law; International and EU Human Rights Law; and EU Health Law.
EDITED VOLUME
August 2026: Our edited volume on health emergencies and legal preparedness has been published, and it is open access!
We are delighted to announce the publication of the edited volume resulting from our research project.
The volume is edited by Prof. Giacomo Di Federico (University of Bologna) and Prof. Emanuele Sommario (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna). The volume is published in Italian.
NEWSLETTERS
During the project, four newsletters were published. Check them out below! They contain useful information on our activities and the major legislative and political developments at the national, regional and international levels regarding public health emergency legal preparedness.
FOURTH NEWSLETTER (October 2025)
THIRD NEWSLETTER (April 2025)
SECOND NEWSLETTER (November 2024)
FIRST NEWSLETTER (June 2024)
Credits: Freepik