ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Renato Fiumalbi, Simone Barnaba, Alessandra Lucchini and Valeria Daloiso, Eversheds Sutherland
This service is typically carried out by the court’s bailiff at the plaintiff’s request. Alternatively, it can be per- formed directly by the plaintiff’s attorney via registered letter or certified email. For services abroad, the court’s bailiff generally han- dles the process at the plaintiff’s request, in accord- ance with the relevant EU regulations (for services to be made within the European Union), the Hague Con- vention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters or other applicable international conventions or bilateral treaties. 3.6 Failure to Respond If the defendant, after being properly served, does not respond to a lawsuit, he/she is declared in default and the proceedings continue. The defaulting party must be served with certain doc- uments, such as the order admitting formal hearing or briefs containing new claims. The defaulting party may appear in court at any time during the proceedings up to the last hearing. In doing so, the defaulting party can be authorised by the court to carry out activities that are precluded at that stage of the proceedings if he/she proves that he/she was not aware of the proceedings due to the nullity of the writ of summons or of its service or that his/her appearance was prevented by a cause not attributable to him/her. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Articles 840-bis to 840-sexiesdecies of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure are dedicated to collective proceedings, in which class action is precisely regu- lated. By the class action, a non-profit organisation or asso- ciation, whose statutory objectives include the pro- tection of “homogeneous individual rights” (eg, rights of consumers, professionals, companies, investors, etc) or each member of the class may bring an action against the author of misconducts and torts in order to ascertain the liability and obtain damages.
Only organisations and associations registered in a public list established at the Ministry of Justice may bring the class action, without prejudice to the legal standing of each member of the class. Opt-In The joining system provided for by the class action rules is based on the opt-in mechanism – eg, it is required that the individual explicitly consents to be included in the class. The individuals joining the class have to expressly grant to the common representative the authority to represent them in the proceedings. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate At the outset of a litigation or potential litigation, attor- neys are required to inform the client of the level of complexity of the case and to provide him/her in writ- ing with a cost estimate. 4. Pre-Trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions Please see 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief . 4.2 Early Judgment Applications A party can apply for early judgment in the following cases. Order for the Payment of Undisputed Sums During the proceedings, a party may apply to obtain an order for the payment of the sums that are not challenged by the parties. Order for Injunction During the proceedings, the parties may ask the court, when the claim consists in the payment of a liquid sum of money, or in the delivery of a certain quantity of fungible assets or of a specific movable asset and it is proved in writing, to order the relevant payment or delivery. Order Following the Closure of the Investigation During the proceedings, once the investigation phase has been completed, on application of the party seek- ing an order for the payment of sums of money or the delivery or release of assets, the court may order the
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