Database

The immunities of States and international organisations

This database contains the original national contributions bringing together information on The immunities of States and international organisations

Information on the contribution

Member State
Italy
Themes
Type of document
Jurisprudence
Permanent link to the contribution
http://www.cahdidatabases.coe.int/C/Immunities/Italy/1986/126
Translations
THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE QUOTED AS FOLLOWS:
Database of the CAHDI "The immunities of States and international organisations" - contribution of Italy - Jurisprudence of 04/06/1986

Sindacato UIL-Scuola di Bari (body corporate) v. Istituto di Bari del Centro internazionale di studi agronomici mediterranei (body corporate)

Author(ity)

Supreme Court of Cassation

Date of the decision, of the judgment

04/06/1986

Points of law

The decision admits the immunity from civil jurisdiction only for foreign States when they act as sovereign bodies and not when they act as private subjects.

Summary of the case

On the basis of an international customary principle sanctioned by scholars, jurisprudence and practice, and applied by the Italian Constitution under Article 10, paragraph 1, foreign States are immune from jurisdiction and execution in the performance of the functions by which they pursue their institutional public goals. The European Convention on Immunity of States, signed in Basel on May, 16, 1972, does not bear witness to a limitation of the scope of this customary principle, in particular with reference to the exclusion of working disputes in the application of immunity from jurisdiction. To date, said Convention was in fact accessed by a limited number of Countries, and Italy is not one of them.

Sources

Rivista di diritto internazionale, 1987, 182

Additional information (explanations, notes, etc.)

Article 10 of the Italian Constitution

European Convention on State Immunity (ETS No. 74)