Italy’s Constitutional Court will begin examining a request in Rome to examine the constitutionality of a previous government decree under which reparations for German crimes during World War II would be paid from the funds of Italy’s national reconstruction program.
Last year, Mario Draghi’s government set up a special fund to compensate families affected by World War II, with €55 million allocated from the National Reconstruction Program (KPO). In this way, the Italian cabinet faced the position of Germany, which refused to pay reparations, citing its immunity, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) affirmed.
Relatives of victims seeking reparations for German crimes over the years had to file applications with Italian courts after it was created in order to receive them from the Italian fund. These cases went to courts across the country. However, now they have to punish Germany, which would make it possible to pay compensation from the money Italy received under the EU KPO. Demands for reparations for German massacres and executions of civilians totaled hundreds of millions of euros.
Under the Draghi government’s decision, Italy is to bear the full burden of reparations instead of Germany. The matter was registered in the government decree as an “urgent measure” in the implementation of the reconstruction plan. The total value of Italian KPO is EUR 200 billion. Some money had already flowed to Rome.
Experts interviewed by the PAP during a conference on reparations organized at the University of Genoa opined that such a solution to the issue would be “legal madness” or “antagonism” in the face of Germany’s approach.
The Italian government has decided to pay for the crimes of the Germans, which is madness
– summed up Ilaria Queirolo from the University of Genoa in an interview with PAP.
Judge Miriam Iappelli from Rome asked the Constitutional Court to review compliance with the Basic Law.
As explained, the purpose of the Draghi government was to guarantee the continuation of the agreement between Germany and Italy in the 1960s to pay 40 million marks at that time. Years later, after discovering the scale of crime, this scale is considered symbolic and totally disproportionate to the scale of harm and loss.
In the judge-applicant’s opinion, there was a “clear imbalance” in favor of Germany.
As he pointed out in his application to the Constitutional Tribunal, the “appropriate counterbalance” to this situation cannot be recognition of the right to access a compensation fund established by the Council of Ministers.
The years-long legal battle for damages in Italy marked a significant turning point in 2004, when the Supreme Court in Rome ruled that Germany did not recognize immunity.
As Queirolo of the University of Genoa’s Department of Political and International Sciences told PAP, the ruling is the first step in opening the way for private lawsuits by families of victims to seek reparations from Germany for the crimes.
But in 2012 the ICJ ruled that Germany was right. According to his ruling, the Italian party could not claim compensation in court, because in 1961 Germany received a guarantee of immunity in case of claims for losses incurred in Italy during the war.
Then spoke the Italian Constitutional Court, which ruled in 2014 that the Basic Law allows for private lawsuits seeking damages, Quirolo noted. This, he asserted, was another opening for such activities. Families started submitting more applications with demands.
In 2022, Germany filed a case against Italy at the ICJ, accusing them of not respecting their immunity. It was only then that the Draghi government decided to create a compensation fund from the KPO fund as Germany decided that this was the only solution to its immunity-triggering situation.
Opponents of this solution argue that if the Italian courts that receive claims for damages first find Germany guilty, the compensation should be paid out of German money, not Italian money.
According to the PAP interlocutor, the only possible solution is direct negotiations between Italy and Germany as EU allies.
Filippo Biol, a lawyer representing some of the families of the Italian victims, told PAP: “We found out about the compensation fund provided for in this law by accident. No one was given the opportunity to ask why Italy should pay for the crimes committed by the German state.
However, according to the lawyer, another aspect must also be taken into account: the co-responsibility of Italy, which during the times of fascism, as he said, “betrayed its citizens” by collaborating with the Third Reich.
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