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Italy

News from Italy

The 2014 Situation in Italy
The year 2010 marked a key moment for the evolution of mediation in this country.

In that year, the Italian legislator has enacted a law on mediation of civil and commercial disputes (Legislative Decree 4 March 2010, 28[1]), the contents of which went beyond what was necessary to implement Directive 2008/52/EC on this issue.

Despite that said directive established common principles valid for the mediation of the only cross-border disputes, they was extended also to internal disputes.

Nevertheless this was not the central issue.

The critical point was that Italian legislature introduced mandatory mediation for most of the disputes (which is not provided but not prohibited by the European Directive), namely those relating to:

• condominium ,
• property,
• division ,
• inheritance,
• family agreements ,
• lease,
• loan,
• torts from movement of vehicles and boats,
• torts from medical liability
• torts from defamation by press or by other means of advertising,
• insurance contacts,
• banking contracts
• financial contracts.

They represent well over half of all the legal dispute.

As a result of this law (which in the meantime has undergone some modifications) , who wanted to bring an action relating to a dispute on that matters, they was obliged to promote before a mediation. If the defendant did not participate in the mediation , presenting and establishing a negotiation, he received some sanctions in court .

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