leonardo.borlini@unibocconi.it
Bio
M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration from Bocconi University (magna cum laude) and M.Sc. in Law (J.D. equivalent) from the University of Pavia (magna cum laude). LL.M from the University of Cambridge. Ph.D. in International Law and Economics from Bocconi University (magna cum laude). Attorney-at-Law at the Milan Bar.
I have been the Lead Expert for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)'s Global Programme, Governance for People and Planet (G4PP) –Compliance and effectiveness of global anti-corruption measures, norms, and standards, and, since 2023, an External Ethics Advisor to the Ethics Committee of the Boards of Directors of the African Development Bank Group.
At Bocconi, I am a Member of the Faculty Board of the Ph.D. in Legal Studies, a Fellow at BAFFI CAREFIN (Centre for Applied Research on International Markets, Banking, Finance, and Regulation), a Fellow at the Institute for European Policymaking (IEP), and a member of the Bocconi Covid Crisis Lab. I’m co-editor-in-chief of the Bocconi Legal Papers Research Series.
I am also a member of the Editorial Board of the German Law Journal, one of the world’s leading academic forums concerned with transnational law. I have held adjunct and visiting positions, among others, at Peking University, the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Singapore Management University, Yong Pung How School of Law, and the City University of Hong Kong. In 2019, I was a Fulbright Grant Researcher at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
In 2021, the Italian National Scientific Committee unanimously declared me a Full Professor of International Law.
Before joining Bocconi University, I was an Associate Lawyer at Grande Stevens Law firm in Milan, and served the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a Technical Assistance Specialist (2011-2013).
I actively practice international law. Apart from my work at the IMF, I have consulted and authored reports commissioned by the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Since 2011, I have participated in technical assistance programs led by the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the IMF, and the Inter-American Development Bank, with field missions in Greece, Vietnam, Panama, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia. I was a member of the Italian delegation to the V Conference of State Parties of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), as well as to different sessions of UNCAC 's Implementation Review Mechanism.
About
I am currently working on the book The State is Back in Business. State Enterprises and International Economic Law in Times of Geopolitical Rivalries (under contract with Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, expected spring 2026). I am currently working on the book The State is Back in Business: State Enterprises and International Economic Law in Times of Geopolitical Rivalries (under contract with Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, expected spring 2026). I am also working on a study that examines the legal issues raised by the new wave of countermeasures and unilateral sanctions.
My article, titled "Compliance Mechanisms as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Tool for the Evolution of International Anti-Corruption Cooperation: A Data-Driven Study," (available in open access at: https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/22/2/487/7739109 ) is published in the Symposium "Three Decades of International Cooperation against Corruption," appeared in 22(2) International Journal of Constitutional Law (2024).
In addition to my study, this Symposium includes contributions such as "Three Decades of International Cooperation against Corruption - Looking Ahead" (co-authored with Anne Peters, available in open access at: https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/22/2/469/7739108 ) and "The Normative Development of Laws on Asset Preservation and Confiscation: An Examination of Emerging Best Practices" (co-authored with Cecily Rose, available in open access at: https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/22/2/514/7739111 ).
All articles from the Symposium are available on ICON's webpage at:
https://academic.oup.com/icon/issue#1989987-7739108
My article Money Laundering. Fight Against was published in July 2024 in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law: https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law-epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e2275
In 2023, I edited and contributed to the Special Issue, The Resurgence of the State as an Economic Actor, published in 24(1) German Law Journal (2023). Below are the Introductory Editorial and Special Issue links.
Editorial: https://germanlawjournal.com/editorial-volume-24-no-1/
Special Issue (Open Access): https://germanlawjournal.com/volume-24-issue-1/
For my article Deepening International Systems of Subsidy Control in EU PTAs: A Comparative Analysis. Normative Rationales and Legal Implications, in 23(3) Columbia Journal of European Law, 2016/17, 551, I received the ‘Leonardo Da Vinci Medal,’ awarded in 2019 by the Conference of University Rectors for the best scientific or artistic original work by a young Italian researcher, as well as the University Bocconi Legal Studies Award 2018. The article is available here.
Research Interests
I am a generalist public international lawyer with a keen interest in international economic law. Beyond this field, I have worked on various specialist areas, such as the law of treaties, UN maintenance of international peace and security, international criminal law, human rights, and the law of the EU (External action, Common commercial policy, Competition policy), the law of international organizations.
My research has been published in journals such as the Leiden Journal of International Law, Virginia Journal of International Law, European Journal of International Law, International Journal of Constitutional Law ICON, American Journal of International Law, German Law Journal, Revue générale de droit international public, Journal of International Criminal Justice, Columbia Journal of European Law, NYU Journal of International Law & Politics, Global Community Yearbook of International Law & Jurisprudence, and Yearbook of European Law.
Publications
Teaching
Additional teachings info
I currently teach International Law, Law International Trade and Investment Law, Topics in International and European Law, Dispute Resolution in a Globalized World, and National and International Institutions Law (at Bocconi).