ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Carlo Rimini and Rebecca Andrello, Studio dell’avv. prof. Carlo Rimini
and the matrimonial property regime, where proceedings involving the same cause of action and between the same parties are brought in the courts of different EU member states, any court other than the court first seized shall, on its own motion, stay its proceedings until such time as the jurisdiction of the court first seized is estab - lished (Article 12 of EU Regulation 4/2009 and Article 17 of EU Regulation 1103/2016). Where the jurisdiction of the court first seized is established, any other court shall decline juris - diction in favour of that court. The above-mentioned rule on lis pendens does not apply if the court first seized is that of a non- member state, in which case the lis pendens mechanism is regulated by Article 7 of Law No 218/1995. 2.2 Service and Process Spousal Maintenance Financial issues in terms of maintenance between spouses are dealt with in legal separa - tion or divorce proceedings. The legal separa - tion/divorce judge can only grant maintenance as a sum paid monthly. The following applies to spousal maintenance. • If the spouses reach an agreement, they can submit a joint petition in court. If the agree - ment is fair, the court rules on financial issues according to the parties’ agreement. Such procedures normally last approximately three or four months. • If the spouses do not come to an agreement and a judicial divorce is necessary, proceed - ings progress as follows. (a) After the submission of the petition, a hearing is scheduled within 90 days. Before the first hearing, both the peti -
tioner and the respondent are given some deadlines within which they are sup - posed to lodge all their reciprocal claims, requests for investigation by the court and the relevant documents with the court. (b) Following the first hearing, if the judge considers that the case is ready to be decided without any further investiga - tion, the final decision can be immediately ruled. If, on the other hand, the judge considers that a more in-depth investiga - tion is required, interim orders are issued (including visitation rights and mainte - nance for the children and eventually for the spouse). Once further investigations are closed, the judge orders the submis - sion of final defences and the final deci - sion is ruled. The reform of civil proceedings has led to rather pressing timeframes for proceedings. This means that such procedures normally last between approximately six months and one year, depending on the complexity of the case. Division of Assets In order to divide their common assets (if any), the spouses have to lodge a petition in court, separate from legal separation or divorce pro - ceedings. 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).
189 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook