ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marco Torsello, Federica Serrantoni, Lucia Pontremoli and Gregorio Baldoli, ArbLit
Key EU regulations governing recognition and enforce - ment of judgments are: • Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (“Brussels I bis Regulation”); • Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility (which, as of August 2022, has been replaced by Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019); • Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 Decem - ber 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and co-operation in matters relating to maintenance obligations; • Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Par - liament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims; • Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Par - liament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 estab - lishing a European Small Claims Procedure; and • Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment proce - dure. As a general principle, EU member state judgments are automatically recognised (ie, without any specific procedure being required) and directly enforced (ie, without any exequatur being needed) in Italy. This is so because, under the above regulations, EU member states’ judgments benefit from a mutual recognition and enforcement regime – under which, the judgment rendered in a particular member state automatically produces effects and is directly enforceable in the other member states. Non-EU Countries’ Judgments If the foreign judgment has been rendered in a non-EU country, the relevant rules are provided by bilateral or multilateral treaties, including:
• the Lugano Convention of 30 October 2007 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (the “Lugano Convention”); and • the Hague Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Rec - ognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (the “2019 Hague Convention”). In the absence of a treaty, the recognition and enforce - ment of judgments of non-EU countries is governed by Italian Law No 218 of 31 May 1995 (the “Italian Pri - vate International Law Act”). Pursuant to Article 64 of the Italian Private International Law Act, the decision of a non-EU country’s court is automatically recog - nised in Italy only if the following conditions are met: • the foreign court that rendered the judgment had jurisdiction based on the criteria established by Italian law; • the defendant was properly served and was given the chance to present their case; • the parties appeared in compliance with the law of the jurisdiction where the proceedings took place or else their default of appearance was declared in compliance with that law; • the judgment was final in the jurisdiction where it was rendered; • the judgment is not incompatible with an earlier final judgment rendered by Italian courts; • there are no earlier proceedings pending before an Italian court between the same parties on the same matter; and • the judgment does not produce effects contrary to Italian public policy. Articles 65 and 66 of the Italian Private International Law Act govern the recognition of judgments relating to personal status, capacity, familiar relationships and personal rights, as well as the recognition of courts’ decisions rendered in non-adversarial proceedings. Under these provisions, foreign judgments are rec - ognised in Italy if they have been rendered by juris - dictional authorities of – or produce effects in – the country whose law is applicable according to the conflict-of-law rules established by the Italian Private International Law Act itself.
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