Acceso usuarios
Tullio Scovazzi
By judgment No. 159 of 21 July 2023, the Italian Constitutional Court found that Article 43, paragraph 3, of Law 29 June 2022 No. 79 (establishing a Fund for the “relief” of victims of crimes of war and against humanity committed on the Italian territory or against Italian nationals by German forces in 1939-1945) is in conformity with the relevant rules of the Constitution, because the provision establishes a mechanism that ensures equivalent, if not better, means for satisfying the victims' right to compensation. Judgment 159/2023 does not fully rule out the dispute presently pending between Germany and Italy before the International Court of Justice, as it does not affect previous Constitutional Court judgment No. 238 of 22 October 2014, which denied immunity to Germany in civil cognizance proceedings for crimes of war. In the domestic perspective, replacing a foreign State found by national courts responsible for such crimes by holding Italy liable to pay the relevant compensation cannot be justified besides the particular case of World War II. In the international perspective, such a solution does not detract from the substantive responsibility of Germany to provide compensation for the still remaining long-lasting claims.
