News
A guarantee provided by a company for personal debts of its own director is void
24/04/2017With regard to a guarantee provided by a company for personal debts of its own director, the Court of Cassation, with Judgment no. 26097/2016, had stated that it could be annulled. Indeed, the company only may be able to establish whether or not its own director had acted with a conflict of interest and whether it is convenient for the company itself to keep that agreement valid or have it annu...
- 24/04/2017
Article 43, paragraph 2, Royal Decree no. 1736 of 1933 (so-called “legge assegni”), provides that: "He who pays a non-transferable check to a person other than the payee or endorsee bank is liable for the payment." The Court of Cassation had declared the objective nature of that responsibility, given that the aforementioned provision would autonomously regulate the fulfillm...
- 18/04/2017
The Supreme Court is confident in assuming that the slope of an application for “Concordato preventivo” while temporarily preventing the declaration of bankruptcy, in any case does not make improcedibile the pre-bankruptcy proceedings or it to be suspended. Therefore, in case of rejection of the said application, although there is still no definitive, given the possibility of the cl...
- 18/04/2017
On 13th April, the Council of Ministers has definitively approved a corrective Decree of the Public Procurement Code, in accordance with article 1, paragraph 8, of Law no. 11 of 2016. One of the main amendments concerns the reintroduction of the so-called “appalto integrato”, that is a public competition for both the planning and the execution of works. In particular, the co...
Decree of approval of “Concordato Preventivo”: appeal excluded only if there were no objections
10/04/2017Article 183 of the Bankruptcy Act provides that against the decree of approval of the courts may be brought complaint to the Court of Appeal. Under Article 180, paragraph 3, of the Bankruptcy Law, however, it is expected that, at the time of approval judgment, if no oppositions filed, the Court, verified the regularity of the procedure and the outcome of the vote, approves the “Concor...
In public contracts, the procurer may be jointly liable for sums due to the contractor’s employees
10/04/2017Article 29, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree no. 276/2003, provides that the procurer is jointly liable with the contractor for wages and social contributions due to the contractor’s employees. With regard to this, with Judgment of 2nd July 2015, the Court of Appeal of L’Aquila had stated that the said provision could not be applicable to a private enterprise, acting as a contra...
The conferment of unjustified payments to directors constitutes “bancarotta patrimoniale”
03/04/2017Article 216, par. 1, no. 1, of the Italian Insolvency Law, punishes the bankrupt entrepreneur who has totally or partially concealed, destroyed or dissipated one’s assets, or, in order to harm creditors, has declared non-existing liabilities (so-called “bancarotta fraudolenta patrimoniale”). Instead, article 216, par. 3, of the Insolvency Law, punishes the bankrupt who, before o...
- 03/04/2017
When a preliminary sale and purchase agreement (“contratto preliminare di compravendita”) is signed, the seller usually receives a sum from the buyer, as a down payment. Should the definitive agreement not be concluded, such payment is to be given back to the buyer. In a case under the scrutiny of the Court of Cassation, the seller, who had not returned the down payment to the buyer...
Mass products may benefit from the protection accorded by the Italian Copyright Law
27/03/2017Art. 22 of Legislative Decree no. 95 of 2001, implementing Directive no. 98/71/EC on the legal protection of designs, amended art. 2, par. 1, of the Italian Copyright Law (Law no. 633 of 22nd April 1941), by introducing a new category of works to be protected, namely “industrial design products having per se a creative and artistic quality”. With Judgment of 22nd N...
Implementation of Framework Decision no. 2003/568/JHA, on combating corruption in the private sector
27/03/2017The Council Framework Decision of 22nd July 2003, no. 2003/568/JHA, on combating corruption in the private sector, stated the general principle under which both active and passive corruption in the private sector should constitute a criminal offence in all Member States. With regard to this, last 17th March, the Italian Council of Minis...
The bankruptcy discharge procedure (so-called “esdebitazione”) applies also to VAT debts
20/03/2017Legislative Decree no. 5 of 9th January 2006 amended article 142 of the Italian Bankruptcy Law (Royal Decree no. 267 of 16th March 1942) and introduced the bankruptcy discharge procedure, so as to prevent the creditors of a natural person who was declared bankrupt from recovering that person’s assets, after the Decree of bankruptcy closure. The discharge procedure operates provided th...
- 20/03/2017
Article 50 of the new Italian Public Procurement Code (Legislative Decree no. 50 of 2016) considers the possibility that, for services with manpower costs of at least half the total amount of the contract, notices of public procurements may contain a protection clause (so-called “clausola sociale”) regarding the employment of workers of the previous procurement. With Judgment no. 23...