Decision of the Court of Cassation, I Civil Section, No. 21946 of 30 September 2015

Adhering to the principles enounced by the Constitutional Court in its decision No. 238/2014, the United Sections of the Court of Cassation ruled that Iran does not enjoy immunity from Italy’s jurisdiction for acts that qualify as international crimes. Italian courts had therefore the competence of recognizing and enforcing a decision issued by a U.S. court against Iran for acts of terrorism. The Brussels Convention of 1968, on the recognition of decisions in civil and commercial matters, was not applicable in the case, because the acts in question were done by Iranian authorities in the performance of official functions. The recognition of the sentence was therefore governed by Italian norms on private international law and, most precisely, Article 64 of Law No. 218/1995. Under Article 64, the recognition of the foreign judgment was however impossible, because Iran had not the possibility to exercise its rights of defense in the U.S. due to the absence of diplomatic relations among the two countries at the relevant time.