ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marco Torsello, Federica Serrantoni, Lucia Pontremoli and Gregorio Baldoli, ArbLit
challenge the judgment when it was possible for them to do so; • it is irreconcilable with a judgment given in a dis - pute between the same parties in Italy; or • it is irreconcilable with an earlier judgment given in another state bound by the Lugano Convention or in a third state involving the same cause of action and between the same parties, provided that the earlier judgment fulfils the conditions necessary for its recognition in Italy. As to the enforcement, pursuant to Article 38 of the Lugano Convention, a judgment given in a signato - ry state may be enforced in Italy only if it has been declared enforceable in the state of origin. Judgments not eligible for recognition and enforcement under 2019 Hague Convention A judgment rendered in a contracting state is eligi - ble for recognition and enforcement in Italy only if the requirements provided for under Articles 5 or 6 of the 2019 Hague Convention are met. Additionally, pursu - ant to Article 7, recognition and enforcement in Italy may be refused if: • the document that instituted the proceedings (or an equivalent document, including a statement of the essential elements of the claim) either: (a) was not notified to the defendant in suffi - cient time and in such a way as to enable the defendant to arrange for their defence, unless the defendant entered an appearance and presented their case without contesting notifi - cation in the court of origin – provided that the law of the state of origin permitted notification to be contested; or (b) was notified to the defendant in Italy in a man - ner that is incompatible with Italian fundamen - tal principles concerning service of documents; • the judgment was obtained by fraud; • recognition or enforcement would be manifestly incompatible with Italian public policy, including: (a) situations where the specific proceedings lead - ing to the judgment were incompatible with fundamental principles of procedural fairness of Italy; and (b) situations involving infringements of security or sovereignty of Italy;
• the proceedings in the court of origin were contrary to an agreement, or a designation in a trust instru - ment, under which the dispute in question was to be determined in a court of a state other than the state of origin; • the judgment is inconsistent with a judgment given by a court of Italy in a dispute between the same parties; or • the judgment is inconsistent with an earlier judg - ment given by a court of another state between the same parties on the same subject matter, provided that the earlier judgment fulfils the conditions nec - essary for its recognition in Italy. Judgments not eligible for recognition and enforcement under Italian Private International Law Act As mentioned in 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (Non-EU Coun - tries’ Judgments), under the Italian Private Internation - al Law Act, non-EU country judgments are recognised and enforced in Italy only if the conditions established by Articles 64, 65 and 66 of the Italian Private Interna - tional Law Act are met. 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments As mentioned in 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments , the procedure for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judg - ments in Italy varies depending on whether the judg - ment has been rendered in an EU member state or in a non-EU country. Process of Enforcing an EU Member State Judgment As mentioned in 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (EU Member States’ Judgments), EU member state judgments benefit from a mutual recognition and enforcement regime – ie, they are automatically recognised and directly enforced in Italy without any specific proce - dure being needed. That said, with regard to judgments in civil and com - mercial matters, Article 36 (2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation allows any interested party to apply for a decision that there are no grounds for refusal of recog - nition. In this case, the application must be presented
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