Academic Members
Sabrina Lanni (Project Leader)
Full Professor of Comparative Private Law at the Department of International, Legal, Historical and Political Studies, University of Milan ‘La Statale’ (Italy), Sabrina has over thirty years’ experience in Latin American law, with a particular focus on the dialogue between Europe and Latin America. She has served as principal investigator for numerous Italian and international projects; notably, prior to her selection for the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence CELESTE, she was Jean Monnet Module Leader for HELACOL and held the Jean Monnet Chair ENFASIS. Sabrina is the author of four monographs and the editor of eleven volumes, all unified by a focus on Latin American law. Through study and research at various foreign universities, she has established strong academic and professional relationships with colleagues across Europe, China, and Latin America. Alongside coordinating and promoting CELESTE’s outreach activities, Sabrina’s research focuses on the legal implications of planned obsolescence and unsustainable food production, situating these issues within the broader framework of natural resource conservation. Her work further investigates the interplay between ecological concerns and private law.
Francisca María Barrientos
Full Professor of Consumer Law and Private Law at the Faculty of Law of the Autonomous University of Chile, following an extensive career at several prestigious Chilean universities. Her academic and professional focus centres on consumer law, compliance, liability, and financial markets. She has authored over eighty scholarly articles published in national and international legal journals, as well as more than five books. Francisca has directed and coordinated numerous research projects on consumer-related issues at both national and international levels, securing funding from national and state sources, including FONDECYT. She currently serves as Of Counsel at a law firm and as Director of the Chilean Institute of Consumer Law. Her expertise in Chilean and Latin American consumer law establishes Francisca as a key figure in the development of CELESTE’s research on sustainable consumption.
Jihane Benarafa
Junior Research Assistant for four years at the Department of International, Legal, Historical and Political Studies of the University of Milan ‘La Statale’ (Italy), where she worked on consumer law and green finance within the context of Islamic law. In 2024, she obtained the national qualification as Associate Professor of Comparative Private Law, and in December 2025, she was appointed as a Tenure Track Researcher (RTT) in Comparative Private Law at the Department of Human Sciences and Territorial Innovation, University of Insubria (Italy). With a particular emphasis on the intercultural dimensions of consumer law, Jihane’s contribution to CELESTE centres on the intersection between European law and the Muslim legal system, especially in relation to green financial products, Shariah-compliant funds, and sustainable fashion.
Sebastián Bozzo Hauri
Full Professor of Civil Law, Jean Monnet Module Leader on “AI and European Private Law”, Director of the “Autonomía Financiera” platform, and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Autonomous University of Chile. He serves as lead researcher on several ANID–Chile funded research projects in the fields of consumer law and artificial intelligence, including the FONDECYT project “Digitalization and Algorithms in Consumer Dispute Resolution”. Sebastián is the author of numerous scholarly contributions on core issues of consumer law. Within the framework of CELESTE, his work focuses on identifying and assessing the integration of EU sustainable consumer law with AI governance and European private law, from a comparative EU–LATAM perspective, through both teaching and research activities.
Gabriele Carapezza Figlia
Full Professor of Private Law at the Department of Law, Economics and Communication of the University LUMSA of Palermo (Italy). After serving two consecutive terms as Director of the Department, he is now the Coordinator of the PhD programme in Mediterranean Studies. History, Law and Economics. Author of numerous essays and books on key issues of consumer law and the management of the commons. He serves on the editorial boards of several national and international legal journals, including the Scientific Board of Rassegna di diritto civile, Revista Boliviana de Derecho, and Actualidad Jurídica Iberoamericana. Gabriele’s constant attention to the opinion of the national and supranational Courts of justice and to the legal doctrine, as well as to the circulation of Italian civil law in Ibero-American countries, strengthens the development of CELESTE’s comparative research on the role of civil law in the fight against climate change.
Giovanni Cavaggion
Associate Professor of Constitutional and Public Law at the Department of International, Legal, Historical and Political Studies of the University of Milan ‘La Statale’ (Italy). He authored more than fifty journal articles and book chapters, and three books in the field of cultural rights and the new trends in contemporary constitutionalism. He is currently Jean Monnet Module Leader of “European Values and Cultural Identities: Constitutional Challenges of the Promotion of the European Way of Life” and Principal Investigator of the SEED Project “The pacifist principle in the Italian and Japanese Constitutions in the wake of the war in Ukraine”. His research interests include, among other things, the multicultural society, the protection of fundamental rights, immigration law, cultural sustainability, multilevel constitutionalism, the European integration process, and the promotion of fundamental European values and the “European way of life”. As a scholar attentive to the contemporary dynamics of constitutionalism and the integration of European constitutional values in a global key, Giovanni’s contribution to the goals of CELESTE focuses on the public law aspects of sustainability.
Edoardo Ezio Della Torre
Full Professor of Human Resource Management and Development at the Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods of the University of Milan ‘La Statale’ (Italy), where he is also Dean of the Faculty of Political Science. Affiliate Professor of the IÉSEG School of Management of the Catholic University of Lille (Francia), he has been a visiting professor at many foreign universities and director of several research projects. His scholarly work focuses on the strategic role of human resources, organizational behavior, and leadership in supporting sustainable development and the green transition. Within CELESTE, Edoardo provides a key intellectual contribution by integrating human resource management and organizational studies into the broader framework of the green transition, supporting national and international companies in developing the competencies, cultural change, and leadership required to successfully navigate environmental transformation.
David Fabio Esborraz
Senior Researcher at the Institute for International Legal Studies of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), he has developed over thirty years a solid international profile grounded in continuous scholarly and institutional dialogue with Latin America. His research expertise focuses on Latin American law, with particular emphasis on the harmonisation and unification of contract law. In this context, he actively contributes to transnational legal debate as a member and Executive Secretary of GADAL (Latin American Group for the Harmonisation of Law in Latin America). He regularly conducts courses, seminars, and conferences at numerous Latin American universities and is frequently invited to contribute to foreign legal journals. David has a thorough understanding of the ongoing dialogue between civil and constitutional law that characterizes the Latin American system, with specific attention to comparative development in new civil codes and to consumer law reforms informed by environmental sensibility.
Sandra Analía Frustagli
Full Professor of Consumer Law and Contract Law at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Rosario (Argentina), she is also a Senior Researcher in the Scientific Research Career of the National Research Council, Director of the Master’s Program in Private Law, Deputy Director of the Civil Law Research Center, and Academic Coordinator of the Diploma in Advanced Studies in the Theory and Practice of Consumer Law. Author of numerous scholarly works focusing on the impact of consumer protection regimes on the general theory of contract law and on the principle of access to sustainable consumption in consumer relations, she has also directed several nationally accredited research projects in this field. Sandra is Vice President of the Argentine Institute of Consumer Law, and her thirty years of experience in consumer liability and emerging trends in consumer law make her a key reference point for Euro–Latin American dialogue on all CELESTE-related topics.
Carlos Alfredo Hernández
Full Professor of Contract Law and Consumer Law at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Rosario (Argentina). Visiting professor in various national and international postgraduate programs at public and private universities (doctoral, master’s, and specialization courses). Author of books, book chapters, and articles published in Argentina and abroad on the link between civil law, consumer law and constitutional law. He is the director of accredited research projects, including the one currently underway on “Technologies and Disruption: The Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Fundamental Institutions of Consumer Law”. President of the Argentine Institute of Consumer Law and Corresponding member of the Academia Nacional de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales de Córdoba, which is one of the most prestigious law academies in Latin America, with correspondents in almost every part of the world. Carlos is a member and coordinator of various legislative reform commissions (including the 2018 Anteproyecto de Ley de Defensa del Consumidor and the 2024 Anteproyecto de Código de Defensa del Consumidor) and has a specific expertise for a comprehensive understanding of the field of sustainable consumption and the measures to implement it in line with CELESTE’s objectives.
Cláudia Lima Marquez
Full Professor of Private International Law and of National and International Consumer Law at the Faculty of Law of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Her academic training took place between the universities of Heidelberg and Tübingen (Germany) and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Claudia has held, and continues to hold, a range of institutional positions both nationally and internationally, including Director of the Center for European and German Studies (CDEA), former President of BRASILCON (Brazilian Institute of Consumer Law and Policy), member of the Board of the International Association of Consumer Law, and legal counsel for the MERCOSUR actions on consumer law. She has written countless works on contract law and consumer vulnerability, including two volumes of close interest to the CoE, Innovation and the Transformation of Consumer Law (Springer, 2021), Fundamentos do CDEA: globalização, diversidade cultural e sustentabilidade (ediPUCRS, 2022). In the framework of CELESTE’s activities, Claudia gives important support for the comparative dialogue between the EU and Brazil.
Barbara Pozzo
Full Professor of Comparative Private Law at the Department of Law, Economics and Culture of the University of Insubria (Italy), where she is also Director of the Summer School Program in Comparative Environmental Law and Director of the Research Centre on Sustainable Fashion. She was a pioneer of Italian studies on fashion law and promoter and Co-Director of the Postgraduate course in Fashion Law. Principal investigator on multiple nationally relevant research projects (PRIN and PNRR) and holder of the UNESCO Chair on “Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Multicultural Society”. Since 2022, she has served as President of SIRD, the Italian Society for Comparative Law Research, founded by Rodolfo Sacco. In 2024, she was elected a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious scientific institutions. She is the author of more than one hundred publications and serves on the editorial boards of several legal journals, including the European Review of Private Law, the Revista General de Derecho Público Comparado, and the Annuario di Diritto Comparato. Barbara’s expertise improves a wide range of CELESTE’s activities, especially with regard to the link between environmental law and fashion law sustainability.
Vito Rubino
Associate Professor of European Union Law at the Department for Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, University of Eastern Piedmont (Italy), where he also teaches European Environment Law and Introduction to Carbon Accounting and CO₂ Markets. He has extensive expertise in food, agriculture, and business law, and serves as Director of CeDiSA (Center for Studies on the Law and Sciences of Agriculture, Food, and the Environment), established by the Universities of Eastern Piedmont, Turin, Milan, Ferrara, Florence, and Pisa. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal ALIMENTA and the author of dozens of articles, essays, and book chapters, as well as three books in the field of EU agri-food law. He is a lawyer registered with the special bar of Varese. Vito’s contribution to CELESTE focuses on European food law and its dissemination in Latin America, with particular emphasis on food sustainability.
Antonio Saccoccio
Full Professor of Roman Law at ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome (Italy). His research focuses on Roman Law and the foundations of Latin American law, as well as on the diachronic comparison of the principles and norms of private law, particularly contract law, civil liability, and the early forms of environmental protection through rules on property, water use, and public nuisance. His work bridges historical legal scholarship and contemporary contract law debates, offering unique insights into the foundations and comparative evolution of private law across continents. Antonio carries out intense activity within the framework of the third university mission as a speaker and organizer of international conferences and seminars in Europe, China and Latin America. The legal journal that he co-edits Roma e America. Rivista di diritto dell’integrazione e dell’unificazione del diritto in Eurasiana e America Latina – a benchmark for scholars who are interested in the dynamics of Latin American law – aims as a dialogue tool for scientific activities promoted by CELESTE.
Cósino Gonzalo Sozzo
Full Professor of Law and Social Sciences at the Faculty of Law of the National University of the Litoral (Argentina), and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Litoral (IEA Litoral). Member of the United Nations Harmony with Nature Expert Network and of the Scientific Direction Council of CIDCE (International Center for Comparative Law Environment). As co-founder, director, and member of the Argentine Climate Litigation Observatory (UNL), Cosimo has also served as Coordinator and member of the commission of experts appointed in 2021 to draft the Consumer Protection Code for the Province of Santa Fe. Author of more than one hundred publications, including the recent monographs Derecho privado para en Antropoceno(UCSF, 2024) and Costitucionalismo ecológico del América del Sur(Rubinzal Culzoni, 2023), he played a leading role and participated in numerous national and international projects and discussion groups on the relationship between ecology, the environment, constitutional law and private law. In view of his academic and legal counsel experience, Cosimo actively contributes to CELESTE’s initiatives on environmental law, climate change, collective action and participatory democracy.
Chiara Tenella Sillani
Full Professor of Private Law at the Department of Private Law and Legal History at the University of Milan ‘La Statale’ (Italy), where she also held various important institutional roles. She is currently a judge of the Court for Trusts of the Republic of San Marino and a member of the Board of Directors of the Court of Cassation. Author of three monographs and numerous articles in leading journals and Co-Director of the series Studi di diritto privato and Diritto privato. Nuovi Orizzonti. She has extensive experience in consumer rights and a strong interest in Latin American law, which has led her to participate as a speaker at various international conferences. The development of CELESTE’s legal debate between academia and civil society on issues related to sustainable consumption and liability for damages is greatly supported by Chiara’s academic and professional experiences.