Della Vocazione Del Nostro Secolo Per La Riforma E La Codificazione Del Diritto Delle Genti E Per L'ordinamento Di Una Giustizia Internazionale: Discorso Per La Inaugurazione Degli Studi Nella R.

Pasquale Stanislao Mancini's inaugural address, Della vocazione del nostro Secolo per la Riforma e la Codificazione del Diritto delle Genti e per L'ordinamento di una Giustizia Internazionale, delivered at the University of Rome, argues that the modern era bears a vocation to reform and codify the law of nations and to establish an international system of justice. In a sweeping historical survey, Mancini traces the obstacles to a true international order—from ancient India and Greece to Rome and to the Christian era and the medieval church—showing how imperial power, religious authority, and scholastic doctrines impeded the emergence of binding international law. He notes cosmopolitan sentiments in Stoic and Roman thought and credits Christianity with curbing unbridled sovereignty by affirming the moral law above political power. The discourse surveys Grotius, Kant, and other schools, arguing that true law must be binding on states, not merely a matter of opinion. He advocates gradual reform, codification, and the institution of arbitration as a first step toward a permanent international judiciary and a world peace grounded in law, with Italy playing a leading role in the modern international order.