Germany v. Italy No. 2 – Instant Webinar on 11 May 2022
As reported in a recent post, Germany has on 29 April 2022 instituted proceedings against Italy before the International Court of Justice in relation with the fact that Italy is allowing civil claims to be brought against Germany in connection with violations of international humanitarian law committed by the German Reich between 1943 and 1945, in breach of Germany’s jurisdictional immunity as a sovereign State.
A webinar in English, organised by the Department of Law of the University of Ferrara and the Institute of International Studies of 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 issues surrounding both the German application and the Italian decree-law of 30 April 2022, whereby the Italian Government addressed at least part of the concerns underlying the initiative of Germany.
The discussion will also revolve around the views that the two States are expected to put forward during the public hearings that are scheduled to take place on 9 and 10 May regarding the request made by Germany for the indication of provisional measures.
The following, among others, will speak at the webinar: Giorgia Berrino (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Serena Forlati (University of Ferrara), 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.
— Update (6 May 2022): The public hearings that were due to take place on 8 and 10 May have been cancelled, following the withdrawal by Germany of its request for the indication of provisional measures. Germany informed the Court that it understands that, pursuant to the decree-law 30 April 2022, Italian courts are required to lift measures of enforcement previously taken, and that no further measures of constraint will be taken by Italian courts against German property used for government non-commercial purposes located on Italian territory. As stated by the agent of Germany in his letter to the Court, “Germany agrees with Italy that the Decree . . . addresses the central concern” expressed in the request for the indication of provisional measures. The proceedings remain in place for the remainder of the application. This development, too, will be discussed in the webinar of 11 May announced in the post above.
