The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Dutch city of The Hague has confirmed that Germany has legal immunity from being sued in foreign courts by victims of Nazi atrocities committed during World War II. The highest UN court said in a ruling on Friday that Italy's Supreme Court had violated Germany's sovereignty by judging that an Italian civilian, Luigi Ferrini, was entitled to reparations for his deportation to Germany in 1944 to work as slave laborer in the armaments industry. The ICJ ruled that the Italian case violated Germany's immunity from being sued in national courts.
The 15 judges ordered Italy to "ensure that the decisions of its courts and those of other judicial authorities infringing the immunity which the Federal Republic of Germany enjoys under international law cease to have effect." Rulings by the International Court of Justice are final and binding on states.
German representatives argued that if the ICJ sided with Italy, it would open floodgates for restitution claims by individuals around the world, a situation it tried to avoid in negotiating reparation accords with Israel and with countries that had been occupied during the war, and with specific groups such as the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
The international court rejected Italy's argument that states' immunity did not apply in cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by one country's army on the territory of another country. The Italian case was supported by Greece, whose citizens have similar claims against Germany.
In 2008, an Italian court decided on the seizure of Villa Vigoni, a German-Italian cultural center on Lake Cuomo, to "enforce" the claims by Italians and Greeks seeking compensation. Germany's protest against the seizure formed part of its appeal against Italy before the ICJ. Italy never formally enforced the seizure, pending the result of the court case, and it will now likely be reversed, Pucci di Benisichi said.
The Greek case involved residents of the Greek village of Distomo, where Nazi troops killed 214 civilians on 10 June 1944. It was one of the worst atrocities during the German occupation of Greece.
Link: Text of the ICJ ruling
