Order of the Court of Florence, II Civil Section, 23 March 2015

The order was delivered by the Court in Florence in a proceeding concerning a compensation claim brought against Germany by the heirs of an Italian national who suffered damages in consequence of World War II war crimes. The proceeding was suspended in the waiting of the decision of the Constitutional Court concerning the compatibility with the Constitution of the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 2012, according to which such proceedings instituted before Italian courts are in breach of the international customary obligation to grant foreign States immunity from civil jurisdiction. The Constitutional Court found in decision No. 238/2014, that Italian judges have not a duty to comply with the ICJ ruling, because latter is totally inconsistent with the fundamental values of Italy’s domestic legal order. Based on this principle, the Court in Florence rejected Germany’s exception concerning lack of Italy’s jurisdiction. Considering, however, that such decision might be regarded, internationally, as a wrongful act, the Court of Florence deemed it convenient to invite the parties to seek for a commonly agreed solution (under the procedure laid down in Articles 185 and 185 bis of the code of civil procedure); and this also bearing in mind that the ICJ has recommended that Italy and Germany renew negotiations among them on the compensation issues that have remained unsettled.