Italian law

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major reference
- In civil law: Italian law
  The French code was introduced into parts of Italy during the Napoleonic conquests. Even after the collapse of Napoleon’s empire, when French law was abrogated, the Napoleonic Code still served as the model for the new codes of several Italian states. The new…
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constitutional law
- In constitutional law: Applications of judicial review
  Thus, the Italian constitutional court requires, for the punishment of speech advocating the use of violence, that the speech create, in the circumstances, a “danger,” but it does not specify that the danger must be “immediate.” The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, judging on the basis of…
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criminal insanity test
- In insanity
  The Italian penal code, for example, relieves a person of responsibility when that person “is deprived of the capacity of understanding or volition.”
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criminal law
- In criminal law: Common law and code law
  The Italian codes of 1930 represent one of the most technically developed legislative efforts in the modern period. English criminal law has strongly influenced the law of Israel and that of the English-speaking African states. French criminal law has predominated in the French-speaking African states. Italian…
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- In criminal law: Conspiracy
  Thus, in the Italian code of 1930, association for the purpose of committing more than one crime was made criminal. None of these continental European provisions, however, has the generality of the original Anglo-American concept. None, for example, condemns agreements to achieve objectives not otherwise criminal.
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defamation
- In defamation
  In Italy, truth seldom excuses defamation, which is criminally punishable there. In the United States, a charge of defamation of a public figure can be sustained only if the offending statement was made with “actual malice,” which the U.S. Supreme Court defined—in New York Times Co.…
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extenuating circumstance
- In extenuating circumstance
  The Italian penal code gives a list of extenuating circumstances, such as that the accused acted from motives of honour, that he committed the offense in a state of intense emotion caused by grave misfortune, or that before the trial he repaired the injury by giving…
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historical roots
- In Germanic law: Rise of feudal and monarchial states
  In Italy this law existed side by side with Lombard law. In the 7th and 8th centuries that law was subjected to a relatively sophisticated codification, whose form showed Roman influence.
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homicide
- In homicide
  …one’s own lineal descendents, and Italy allows for mitigated punishment if killers acted from a sudden intense passion to avenge their honour. European codes, like Anglo-American codes, distinguish between intentional and other felony murders on the one hand and reckless, negligent, and provoked murders on the other. In all systems…
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business law

agency
- In agency: The external, unilateral act of authorization
  …like those of Poland and Italy do not even contain the “unless” clause and prescribe only that an agent’s power of attorney must be granted with the formalities prescribed for the contract that is to be entered into by the agent.
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bankruptcy laws
- In bankruptcy: Early developments
  The medieval Italian cities enacted statutes dealing with the collection and distribution of the assets of debtors, especially merchants, who had absconded or fraudulently caused insolvency. Such bankrupts (rumpentes et falliti) were subjected to severe penalties, and their estates were liquidated. In addition, medieval Spanish law restored…
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commercial law
- In commercial transaction: Historical development
  The Italians created a sophisticated system of bills of exchange used partly for the transfer and exchange of money, partly (by means of endorsement) for payment, and partly (by discounting) for credit purposes. They also invented bankruptcy as a method for dealing equally with an insolvent…
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corporations
- In business organization: Limited-liability companies, or corporations
  In France, Germany, and Italy and the other countries subject to a civil-law system, a notarized copy of the constitution is filed at the local commercial tribunal, and proof is tendered that the first members of the company have subscribed the whole or a prescribed fraction of the company’s…
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legal profession

In legal profession: Medieval Europe
…southern France and in central Italy. The Christian church, which became the official Roman imperial church after 381 ce, developed its own canon law, courts, and practitioners and followed the general outline of later Roman legal organization. Because of its success among the invaders, the church was in a position…
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In legal profession: Worldwide legal profession
…division still formally exists in Italy, it is no longer of practical importance. In Latin America the fused profession is general. Notaries as a separate specialized branch of the profession exist, however, in most civil-law countries.
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education
- In legal education: School examinations
  …in some countries, such as Italy, though in the United States they are rare. French universities typically use both written and oral examinations. Some English and overseas Commonwealth universities hold oral examinations to confirm or resolve doubtful results on written papers or as a prerequisite to the award of first…
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prosecuting
- In legal profession: Public-directed practice
  In Italy and France the prosecutor is a member of the judiciary. Both prosecutors and judges receive the same training, and both may move from one role to the other in the course of their advancement in the civil service. In Germany, although the prosecutor is…
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procedural law

In procedural law: Medieval European law
…the Germanic tribal traditions in Italy and France, and somewhat later in Germany, though not all elements of the Germanic procedure disappeared. By contrast, in Scandinavia indigenous procedure adapted itself and was able to resist displacement by foreign law.
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In procedural law: Appeals and other methods of review
, France and Italy), the arguments by the parties may be augmented by an officer representing the Ministry of Justice. If a court reverses a lower court ruling, it generally does not substitute its own judgment for the erroneous judgment below but merely annuls the erroneous judgment and…
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evidence
- In evidence: Confessions and admissions
  …of such countries as France, Italy, and Spain, an admission made before the court is a form of evidence that leads to conclusive proof binding upon the court. But admissions made out of court are subject to free evaluation by the judge and do not exclude further evidence.
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jurisdiction
- In competence and jurisdiction
  …is a French national; in Italy some Italian link must be shown by a nonnational for jurisdiction to be exercised; and in Germany and Austria, by contrast, the location of property often determines jurisdiction.
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