INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org
Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2008/44
23 December2008
Germany institutes proceedings against Italy for failing to respect
its jurisdictional immunity as a sovereign State
THE HAGUE, 23 December 2008. The Federal Re public of Germany today instituted
proceedings before the International Court of Ju stice (ICJ) against the Italian Republic, alleging
that “[t]hrough its judicial practice . . . Itainfringed and continues to infringe its obligations
towards Germany under international law”.
In its Application, Germany contends: “In recent years, Italian judicial bodies have
repeatedly disregarded the jurisdictional immunity of Germany as a sovereign State. The critical
stage of that development was reached by the judgment of the Corte di Cassazione of
11 March 2004 in the Ferrini case, where [that court] declared that Italy held jurisdiction with
regard to a claim . . . brought by a person who during World War II had been deported to Germany
to perform forced labour in the armaments indus try. After this judgment had been rendered,
numerous other proceedings were instituted against Germany before Italian courts by persons who
had also suffered injury as a consequence of the armed conflict.” The Ferrini judgment having
been recently confirmed “in a series of decisions delivered on 29May2008 and in a further
judgment of 21October2008”, Germany “is concer ned that hundreds of additional cases may be
brought against it”.
The Applicant recalls that enforcement measu res have already been taken against German
assets in Italy: a “judicial mortgage” on Villa Vigoni, the German-Italian centre of cultural
exchange, has been recorded in the land register. In addition to the claims brought against it by
Italian nationals, Germany also cites “attempts byGreek nationals to enforce in Italy a judgment
obtained in Greece on account of a . . . massacre committed by German military units during their
withdrawal in 1944”.
The Applicant requests the Court to adjudge and declare that Italy:
“(1) by allowing civil claims based on violations of international humanitarian law by the German
Reich during World WarII from September1943 to May1945 to be brought against the
Federal Republic of Germany, committed violati ons of obligations under international law in
that it has failed to respect the jurisdictional immunity which the Federal Republic of Germany
enjoys under international law;
(2) by taking measures of constraint against ‘V illa Vigoni’ [the German-Italian centre for cultural
exchange], German State property used for government non-commercial purposes, also
committed violations of Germany’s jurisdictional immunity; - 2 -
(3) by declaring Greek judgments based on occurre nces similar to those defined above in request
No. 1 enforceable in Italy, committed a further breach of Germany’s jurisdictional immunity.
Accordingly, the Federal Republic of Germany prays the Court to adjudge and declare that:
(4) the Italian Republic’s international responsibility is engaged;
(5) the Italian Republic must, by means of its own choosing, take any and all steps to ensure that
all the decisions of its courts and other judi cial authorities infringing Germany’s sovereign
immunity become unenforceable;
(6) the Italian Republic must take any and all steps to ensure that in the future Italian courts do not
entertain legal actions against Germany founded on the occurrences described in request No. 1
above.”
Germany reserves the right to request the Court to indicate provisional measures in
accordance with Article 41 of the Statute of the Court, “should measures of constraint be taken by
Italian authorities against German State assets, in particular diplomatic and other premises that
enjoy protection against such measures pursuant to general rules of international law”.
As the basis for the jurisdiction of the Cour t, Germany invokes Article1 of the European
Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes adopted by members of the Council of Europe
on 29 April 1957, ratified by Italy on 29 January 1960 and ratified by Germany on 18April1961.
That Article states:
“The High Contracting Parties shall submit to the judgment of the International Court of
Justice all international legal disputes which may arise between them including, in particular, those
concerning:
(a) the interpretation of a treaty;
(b) any question of international law;
(c) the existence of any fact which, if establishe d, would constitute a breach of an international
obligation;
(d) the nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of an international obligation.”
Germany asserts that, although the present case is between two Member States of the
European Union, the Court of Justice of th e European Communities in Luxembourg has no
jurisdiction to entertain it, since the dispute is no t governed by any of the jurisdictional clauses in
the treaties on European integration. It adds that outside of that “specific framework” the Member
States “continue to live with one another under the regime of general international law”.
The Application was accompanied by a Joint Declaration adopted on the occasion of
German-Italian Governmental C onsultations in Trieste on 18November2008, whereby both
Governments declared that they “share the ideals of reconciliation, solidarity and integration, which
form the basis of the European construction”. In this declaration Germany “fully acknowledges the
untold suffering inflicted on Italian men and women” during World WarII. Italy, for its part,
“respects Germany’s decision to apply to the International Court of Justice for a ruling on the
principle of state immunity [and] is of the view that the ICJ’s ruling on State immunity will help to
clarify this complex issue”.
___________ - 3 -
The full text of the Federal Republic of Germ any’s Application will be available shortly on
the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).
___________
Information Department:
Mrs. Laurence Blairon, Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Messrs. Boris Heim and Maxime Schouppe, Information Officers (+31 (0)70 302 2337)
Ms Joanne Moore, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)
Mrs. Barbara Dalsbaek, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)
Germany institutes proceedings against Italy for failing to respect its jurisdictional immunity as a sovereign State