Private international law and procedure and international contracts

Pietrangeli Law Firm protects the interests of natural persons and companies with regard to legal relationships connected with more than one State (by way of example, the legal separation between two spouses, one of whom is an Italian citizen and the other an English citizen, an international contract or the succession of an Italian citizen owning real estate in the United States of America).

We deal both with issues concerning the determination of the law to be applied (so-called private international law in the strict sense of the word, which solves “conflicts of laws”) and with issues such as, on the one hand, establishing whether Italian courts have jurisdiction or not in any disputes which can arise and, on the other hand, the recognition and enforcement in Italy of judgments delivered abroad (so-called international civil procedure).

Our professionals deal with the said issues of private international law first of all out of court, by offering advice and assistance (e.g. in drawing up or interpreting an international contract, or in drawing up a will).

In particular, we have performed for several years in-house counsel activities in outsourcing on behalf of enterprises that work with foreign partners or abroad, dealing with international contracts and providing the assistance required in case of litigation.

We also handle issues of private international law which can arise in proceedings before Italian courts (e.g. when it is necessry to determine the law of the State which must be applied in the case of legal separation and divorce, or in proceedings regarding the liability resulting from an unlawful act) or before arbitrators.

In particular, all the issues which can arise in order to determine correctly the law applicable to a specific case are dealt with and solved, such as, inter alia, classification of the specific case, interpretation of connecting factors, renvoi, determination of applicable foreign law rules, assessment of the applicability of international mandatory rules to the area concerned and applicability of international public policy exception to the specific case, or determination of the applicable law in case of reference to the law of States with two or more legal systems (e.g. United Kingdom or United States of America).

When our professionals are consulted in order to determine the applicable law, they take account of EU regulations (e.g. Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations, so-called “Rome I Regulation”, Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, so-called “Rome II Regulation”; Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012 in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession), of international conventions on uniform private international law (e.g. the Hague Convention of 2 October 1973 on the law applicable to maintenance obligations), and of Italian Law No. 218 of 31 May 1995.

With regard to issues of jurisdiction, our professionals take account of Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 (“Recast Regulation”) on jurisdiction and recognition and enforcement of decisions in civil and commercial matters, of other EU regulations which are applicable according to the subject matter, and of international conventions (e.g. the 2005 Hague Convention on the Choice of Court Agreements), and finally, of Italian Law No. 218 of 31 May 1995.

We also handle the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments (such as, for example, divorce decrees or judgments establishing contractual liability) or the opposition to the recognition of foreign judgments (as, by way of example, in case of judgments establishing parentage) and the recognition and enforcement of, or vice versa, the opposition to the recognition of foreign arbitral awards.

As for the recognition of foreign judgments in Italy, our professionals take into consideration regulations of the European Union, (Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 (“Recast Regulation”), Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcements of judgments in matrimonial matters and parental responsibility, Regulation (EC) No. 4/2009 in matters of maintenance obligations, Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012 in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession, etc.), international multilateral conventions (e.g.: Convention of Lugano of 30 October 2007 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters) and bilateral conventions (e.g.: Treaty between Italy and Brazil signed on 17 October 1989 on mutual legal assistance and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil matters), and finally Italian Law No. 218 of 31 May 1995.

Our professionals also deal with new safeguards and judicial procedures introduced by European Regulations before Italian courts, including, inter alia, the issue and withdrawal of a European Enforcement Order certificate pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 805/2004, or the application for or opposition to European payments orders in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1896/2006.

As regards the experience acquired, it should be noted that:

➢ Our professionals, over the years, have pleaded in Italian courts cases concerning the determination of the applicable law in respect of a number of issues (including, inter alia, filiation, unjust enrichment, residence) in proceedings differing greatly one from the other (by way of example: legal actions for judicial declaration of paternity, civil liability actions and actions before administrative courts regarding Italian public competitions, as in the case of a public competition for a position at an Italian Consulate abroad).

➢ In the context of advice and assistance, we have also drawn up simple opinions and “pro veritate” independent opinions in matters of Italian Private International Law and sometimes Comparative Private International Law, e.g. in relation to the international succession of an Italian citizen who owned properties in Italy and France.

➢ Francesca Pietrangeli, as member of the defence team of the Popular Republic of China, dealt successfully with the complex issue of the applicability of the principle of “panprocessuale” effectiveness of judgments on jurisdiction to the specific case of jurisdiction in respect of a foreign State (Court of Cassation sitting en banc, judgment delivered on 1st July 2008, No. 19600, Ministero degli affari esteri v. Immobiliare Villa ai Pini s.r.l. and Repubblica Popolare Cinese, in Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale, 2009, 427 et seq.).

➢ Our professionals have also handled the enforcement in Italy of judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights and by International Administrative Courts.

➢ Francesca Pietrangeli was a member of the defence team in a well-known case of opposition to the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award (Court of Appeal of Rome, judgment of 19 June 2006, No. 2968, in Rivista dell’arbitrato, 2008, 253 et seq.).