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The immunities of States and international organisations

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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/1977/132
Translations
THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE QUOTED AS FOLLOWS:
Database of the CAHDI "The immunities of States and international organisations" - contribution of Italy - Jurisprudence of 29/04/1977

Società immobiliare Corte Barchetto (body corporate) v. Morocco (State)

Author(ity)

Tribunal of Rome

Date of the decision, of the judgment

29/04/1977

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

The Italian judge can be seized of a dispute against a foreign Embassy on the subject of lease of immovable property. The Embassy did not state its intention to enjoy the privileges of a body representing a foreign State and concluded a contract as if it were a private body, committing itself to abide by the related conditions. Not even the public aim for which the contract was signed, i.e. the use of the immovable property as premises of the Embassy, could subtract the contract from the jurisdiction of the Italian State.

Sources

Italian Yearbook of International Law, 1980-81, 222

Additional information (explanations, notes, etc.)

Confirmed by the decision of the Court of Appeal of Rome of 12 September 1979 (Italian Yearbook of International Law, 1980-81, 226).