Class Action - Italy

Italy

Italy has class action legislation now. Consumer associations can file claims on behalf of groups of consumers to obtain judicial orders against corporations that cause injury or damage to consumers. These types of claims are increasing and Italian courts have recently allowed them against banks that continue to apply compound interest on retail clients’ current account overdrafts. The introduction of class actions is on the new government’s agenda. On the 19th of November 2007 the Senato della Repubblica passed a class action law in Finanziara 2008, a financial document for the economy management of the government. Now (from 10 December 2007), in order of Italian legislation system, the law is before the House and has to be passed also by the Camera dei Deputati, the second house of Italian Parliament, to become an effective law. In 2004, the Italian parliament considered the introduction of a type of class action, specifically in the area of consumers’ law. To date, no such law has been enacted, however scholars demonstrated that class actions (azioni rappresentative) do not contrast with Italian principles of civil procedure. Class Action is regulated by art. 140 bis of the Italian consumers' code and will be in force from 1 July 2009.