The International Court of Justice again on jurisdictional immunities – A webinar, 11 May 2022
Invitation by Pietro Franzina
On 29 April 2022, Germany filed an application against Italy before the International Court of Justice. Germany complains that Italy is allowing its courts to entertain claims for compensation for prejudice resulting from war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated between 1943 and 1945 by the Third Reich’s forces in Italy.
Recalling the ruling given by the International Court of Justice itself in 2012, in the case of the Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy: Greece intervening), Germany contends that the conduct of Italian authorities amounts to a violation of jurisdictional immunity of Germany as a sovereign State (for a more detailed account of the case, see this post on the EAPIL blog).
A webinar in English, organised by the University of Ferrara and the Catholic University of Milan, will take place on 11 May 2022, between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm, via GoogleMeet, to discuss the various issues surrounding the case.
The speakers include Giorgia Berrino (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Serena Forlati (University of Ferrara), Pietro Franzina (Catholic University of the Sacred Geart, Milan), Karin Oellers-Frahm (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg), Riccardo Pavoni (University of Siena), and Pierfrancesco Rossi (LUISS Guido Carli, Rome).
Attendance is free. See here for further details.
Dear Thalia,
Important update: after Italy made some concessions, Germany has withdrawn its application. Further information here: https://www.euronews.com/2022/05/06/germany-withdraws-un-court-case-against-italy-over-world-war-ii-reparations
Dear Jan, so far, Germany has only withdrawn its request for the indication of provisional measures (https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/183/183-20220506-PRE-01-00-EN.pdf). The case, as such, is still pending (and labelled as such in the website of the International Court of Justice). See further on these developments https://eapil.org/2022/05/04/jurisdictional-immunities-germany-v-italy-again/, including the updates. Germany and Italy may well settle the dispute by agreement, especially after the recent developments, but we are apparently not there yet. In the meanwhile, if I may add, the webinar scheduled for 11 May is confirmed.
Dear Pietro,
yes, I am sorry – the initial report by Euronews and other media outlets on which I relied was formulated in a too general manner. More recent articles in the German press have, however, been more precise (application for provisional measures withdrawn, but suit remains pending, see https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/deutschland-zieht-klage-gegen-italien-in-den-haag-zurueck-18013709.html).
Best wishes
Jan