ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Carlo Rimini and Rebecca Andrello, Studio dell’avv. prof. Carlo Rimini
ed legal separation before divorce is still man - datory. This means that, when legal separation and divorce are claimed with the same petition, the court – within the same proceedings – rules on the legal separation and can only decide on the divorce after six months have elapsed (this was confirmed by Supreme Court Decision No 28727/2023). Such procedure normally takes about eight or nine months. Divorce by litigation If the spouses do not reach an agreement and a divorce has to be granted by the court, the procedure is as follows. • After the submission of the petition, a hearing is scheduled within 90 days. Before the first hearing, both the petitioner and the respond - ent are given some deadlines within which they are supposed to lodge all their reciprocal claims, requests for investigation by the court and the relevant documents with the court. • Following the first hearing, if the judge con - siders that the case is ready to be decided without any further investigation, the final decision can be immediately ruled. If, on the other hand, the judge considers that a more in-depth investigation is required, interim orders are issued (including visitation rights and maintenance for the children and eventu - ally for the spouse). Once further investiga - tions are closed, the judge orders the submis - sion of final defences and the final decision is ruled. The reform of the civil proceeding rules has led to rather pressing timeframes for proceedings. This means that, depending on the complexity of the case, such proceedings take between six months and a year.
The possibility to submit a cumulative request for both legal separation and divorce is also per - mitted in case of litigation between the spouses. This means that the request for divorce can be lodged with the court (by both the petitioner and the respondent, or by only one of them) together with the request for legal separation (Article 473- bis.49 of the Italian Civil Procedure Code). When legal separation and divorce are claimed with the same proceedings, the court rules on the legal separation and can only rule on the divorce once one year has elapsed. The procedure for divorce is the same for reli - gious marriages and civil marriages. A religious marriage has civil effects in Italy if it is celebrated according to the Catholic rite or if it is celebrated in Italy before a minister of a faith that is recog - nised in Italy by a bilateral agreement. The only difference between ending a religious marriage or a civil marriage by divorce lies in the name used: • Cessazione degli effetti civili del matrimonio – if the marriage was celebrated in front of a Catholic priest or a minister of a faith with a bilateral agreement with the State; or • Scioglimento del matrimonio – if the mar - riage was celebrated in the municipality or in front of a minister of a faith without a bilateral agreement with the State. Service According to the Italian Civil Procedure Code, service is generally dealt with by a bailiff. The recent reform of civil proceedings in Italy (con - tained within Law No 206/2021 and Legislative Decree No 149/2022) has provided for new rules relating to service, according to which lawyers can also deal with service (in the cases and in the way stated by the law).
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