The Italian Yearbook of International Law aims at making accessible to the English speaking public the Italian contribution to the practice and literature of international law. Volume XIV (2004) is organised in three main sections. The first contains doctrinal contributions including articles on the UN Charter reform; corporations as international actors; human genetics and reproductive technology; and on the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This section includes also notes on the seminal judgment of the Italian Supreme Court in the Ferrini case, setting aside immunity of a foreign State in respect of reparation claims by victims of gross violations of human rights, and on the decision of the Special Court of Sierra Leone in the Charles Taylor case, as well as surveys on the activity of selected international institutions and tribunals (World Trade Organization, Law of the Sea Tribunal, and European Court of Human Rights). The second section covers the Italian practice in the areas of 1) judicial decisions; 2) diplomatic and parliamentary practice; 3) treaty practice; and 4) national legislation. The third section contains a systematic bibliographical index of Italian literature in the field of international law and reviews of recent books. The volume ends with an analytical index for ready consultation that includes the main judicial cases and legal instruments cited throughout the Yearbook.