Dispute over money for Nazi atrocities
Germany is suing Italy
04/30/2022, 3:28 p.m
Italian courts are opening numerous cases of private individuals seeking compensation for Nazi crimes during World War II. That is why Germany is now taking Italy to the International Court of Justice. Berlin relies on its own state immunity.
Germany has filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a dispute with Italy over compensation payments for Nazi crimes in World War II. The Federal Republic accuses Italy of having allowed several new proceedings against Germany despite a judgment of the ICJ from 2012, the court said. Ten years ago, after a long legal dispute, the highest court of the United Nations ruled that Germany did not have to individually compensate Italian military internees and other Italian victims of National Socialism. It thus underpinned the legal principle of state immunity, according to which the judgments won by private prosecutors in Italy are invalid.
Despite the ICJ ruling, Italian courts have “raised a significant number of new claims against Germany in violation of Germany’s sovereign immunity since 2012,” according to Berlin’s application. The federal government referred in particular to a ruling by the Italian Constitutional Court from 2014, which allows “individual complaints by victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity against sovereign states”. According to the complaint, this judgment was “delivered in knowing violation of international law and Italy’s obligation to comply with a judgment of the most important legal body of the United Nations”.
According to the ICJ, the complaint speaks of “at least 25 new lawsuits” against Berlin. In at least 15 proceedings, “claims against Germany in connection with the behavior of the German Reich during the Second World War were raised and resolved”.
Coercive measures against the Goethe Institute
The lawsuit calls for Italy to be convicted for illegally taking or threatening “coercive measures against German state property in Italy”. The German Archaeological Institute in Rome, the Goethe Institute, the German Historical Institute and the German School in Rome are all affected. Pending a landmark decision by the Court of Justice, none of the listed objects “may be the subject of a public auction”. Italy must ensure that all decisions taken by the courts are declared invalid. In addition, it must pay for all damage caused by the violation of state immunity.
The federal government argues that the question of compensation was resolved after the war within the framework of intergovernmental agreements. She appealed to the ICJ at the end of 2008 to have it checked whether judgments made in Italy were compatible with international law. These judgments related to crimes committed between September 1943 and May 1945 during the German occupation of Italy.
The ICJ, based in The Hague, was founded in 1946 to settle disputes between states. Its judgments are binding and cannot be appealed. However, the UN court has no instruments at its disposal to implement its judgments.