On 24 January, the Italian Government enacted emergency measures designed to aid the recovery of the Italian economy and improve its economic infrastructure (Decree no. 1/2012 of 24 January 2012). Some of the changes introduced under the Decree affect litigation. Most notably, there is an amendment to the class action provisions entered into force on 1 January 2010, and a provision for the establishment of specialised sections within the existing civil courts, dedicated to handling commercial litigation.

Commercial Litigation

The provisions on specialised commercial sections within civil courts are contained in Article 2 of the Decree and will become effective after 90 days, i.e. after the attended Parliament's conversion of the Decree into law.

The purpose is to foster specialist knowledge and deeper understanding among the judges handling complex litigation cases. The legislator identified such complex cases in “commercial” litigation, whereby commercial is intended in the broadest sense i.e. as referring to anything that concerns a business activity including, among others, corporate and intellectual property litigation.

This new approach is an amendment and expansion of the specialised sections on intellectual property disputes, which entered into force in 2003.

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