Preface of the book Legal Conversations between Italy and Brazil by Giuseppe Bellantuono and Fernando Lara, Sao Paulo, May, 2018.

This volume is the result of a five-year long intensive co-operation project between scholars of the Faculty of Law of the University of Trento, in Italy, and of the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in Brazil, which process also generated a series of conferences and some exchanges of students. The substantial studies herein inserted were written in English, Italian or Portuguese, by ten different professors of law from Italy or Brazil. The project was co-ordinated by professors Giuseppe Bellantuono, in Italy, and Fernando Lara, in Brazil and cover, basically, some processes of legal change and specificities concerning different branches of law.
Brazilian legal doctrine has closely followed Italian legal developments for many decades in areas such as constitutional, civil and criminal substantive law, as well as procedure. More recently, regulatory developments in multilateral fora, such as the World Trade Organisation, and in the United States of America (USA) have exerted an influence in both Italy and Brazil. Regional trade pacts have also been the source of law change in both countries: the European Union (EU) in the case of Italy and The Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), with respect to Brazil. Of course, the large contingents of Brazilians descending from Italian immigrants have always contributed for a close co-operation between the two countries in many human activities . This project is only one more meritorious example of this reality.
The studies inserted in the volume Legal Conversations between Italy and Brazil cover different areas of the law and legal philosophy. One theme, in particular, that of the legal prevention and repression of corruption, is treated by Marcelo Andrade Féres of Brazil, and by Nicoletta Parisi of Italy. In these two papers, the authors analyse the relevant laws on the subject in both countries, the inherent problems and suggest some perspectives.
On the other hand, Leonardo Parentoni writes about the neutrality of the Internet and how the changes in its legal framework will affect the lives of millions of persons in the years to come. The fascinating topic of e-commerce, a growing economic activity, is covered with competence by Marcelo de Oliveira Milagres, who does not fail to address relevant aspects of consumer protection and certain issues pertaining to traders.
Fabiano Lara addresses the issue of mechanism design for legal institutions, with a view to building structures that foster economic and social development. Also in the area of legal philosophy, Alexandre Travessoni Gomes Trivisonno prepared a paper on obedience to authority an the relation between law and moral in Kant. On the same field, Monica Sette Lopes wrote on the experience, history and memory of the unwritten law.
An important theme, with which Italian scholars will have little familiarity, is that examined by Girolano Domenico Treccani, on the enforcement and deconstruction of rights of the traditional or native population of the Amazon region. At last, Giuseppe Bellantuono addresses the strategic issue of legal development in municipal law of different countries, with a view towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.
The book Legal Conversations between Italy and Brazil, which I read with both delight and great interest, is a very important by-product of the Italian-Brazilian cooperation and will interest not only the legal community in both countries, their policy makers, as well as the respective business sectors.