Home > Research Unit > Maritime Governance Laboratory

Maritime Governance Laboratory

The Maritime Governance Laboratory (MarGov) unit at the Luiss Research Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) engages with the maritime domain as a strategic space.
Against a backdrop of growing concerns relating to security, energy, critical infrastructure, global trade, supply chain vulnerabilities, and geopolitical competition, MarGov provides an interdisciplinary analysis of maritime governance, including from the perspective of the Law of the Sea and related regulatory frameworks.
Particular attention is devoted to the institutional and legal frameworks through which States, international organisations, regional actors, and private stakeholders regulate, manage, and secure maritime spaces, marine resources, critical infrastructures, and transnational maritime activities. MarGov also examines the mechanisms relevant to addressing cross-border maritime disputes.
The Unit’s research adopts a multi-faceted approach to maritime governance, with the aim of contributing to institutional awareness, capacity-building, and informed decision-making across the public and private sectors.

Head of Unit

  • Antonio Leandro

    Antonio Leandro

    Antonio Leandro (Law Degree, Bari; PhD, Rome-La Sapienza) is a Full Professor of International Law at the Department of Law of the Aldo Moro University of Bari, where he teaches public and private international law, international law of the sea, and international trade law. Expert for the European Commission and UNIDROIT, member of the Italian Foreign Policy and Security Laboratory at the CISS, he has been appointed as Scientific Advisor to the Italian Navy. He served as a director of a short-term master’s program on safety and security at sea in cooperation with the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza).

    Author of five monographs and several scientific papers, he is also editor or co-editor of six collective volumes. He serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals and co-directs an international law book series. His research interests range across private international law, public international law, and their intersections with European Union law.

    As regards maritime topics, he particularly focused – through scientific publications, workshops and lectures – on the Exclusive Economic Zone, maritime security, piracy, criminal jurisdiction at sea, migration by sea, maritime labour safety standards, naval peace-keeping, maritime spatial planning, underwater normative and regulatory framework, foreign direct investments in port and maritime environment, economic warfare in maritime activities, GHG emissions, and sustainable development in ocean governance.

Researcher

  • Ranieri

    Alessandro Ranieri

    Alessandro Ranieri, Law Degree and PhD in International and European Union Law at the Aldo Moro University of Bari, has lectured in the law of the sea within the Degree Programme in Sciences and Management of Maritime Activities offered by the same University in cooperation with the Italian Navy. He has also taught European Union Law at the Training School of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza).

    Dr Ranieri has also contributed to various research projects, particularly under the coordination of the Taranto Port Authority and CoNISMa (Consorzio nazionale interuniversitario per le scienze del mare). Author of a monograph on arms transfers at sea, as well as of several scientific publications in the field of the Law of the Sea. His PhD thesis focused on maritime piracy.

  • Antonucci

    Amedeo Antonucci

    Amedeo Antonucci is a retired Brigadier General of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza). He holds degrees in Law and Economic and Financial Security Sciences.

    He is the co-author and co-editor of several legal and operational publications. He has also lectured and delivered presentations in university courses and master’s programmes on maritime law enforcement, international law of the sea, immigration law, maritime security, and related fields.

    From 2020 to 2025, he commanded the Guardia di Finanza Nautical School, the training institution responsible for the education and specialist training of Guardia di Finanza personnel operating at sea.

    Throughout his career, he held command positions within operational units of the Guardia di Finanza, where he planned and directed numerous air-naval law enforcement operations against illicit maritime trafficking at both national and transnational levels. Some of these operations, following the related criminal proceedings, contributed to the development of established case law and became important reference points in the sector. From 2013 to 2017, he also served as Local Coordinator for Frontex operations.

    His expertise focuses on the legal and operational management of air-naval operations targeting illicit maritime trafficking in territorial waters and on the high seas, as well as on maritime investigations. He currently works as a legal consultant.

  • Fabio Caffio

    Fabio Caffio

    Fabio Caffio, graduated with full marks in Law at the La Sapienza University of Rome, served in the legal branch of the Italian Navy until 2011, when he retired with the rank of Rear Admiral. He later collaborated with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and served as a Naval advisor. An expert in the law of the sea, he has participated in numerous meetings concerning maritime delimitation, as well as international instruments such as the SUA and SAR Conventions. He was a member of the Group of experts convened in 1994 to draft the San Remo Manual on International Law applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea and is a member of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War.

    He regularly contributes to leading legal journals and is the author of Glossario del Diritto del Mare. He has also served as Adjunct Professor of Geopolitics and the Law of the Sea at Aldo Moro University of Bari.