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Quick Guide: Italy

Some Common Abbreviations

d. (D.) decreto
d.l. (D.L.) decreto legge
d.m (D.M) decreto ministeriale
l. (L.) legge
l. reg. (L.Reg) legge regionale
reg. (Reg.) regolamento

For further abbreviations see Sprudzs, A. Italian abbreviations and symbols: law and related subjects (1969)

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Finding Legislation

Citation Style

cod. proc. civ., art. 660 comma, 5

l.reg. 7 agosto 1953 n.47

l. 7 agosto 1990 no.250

IALS Sources

See the main Italy research guide for details of availability of the constitution and codes on the web. A useful gateway for legislation is the Normeinrete website

For a hard-copy English translation of the constitution try the loose-leaf publication by Blaustein and Flanz Constitutions of the countries of the world (Volume 9, release 2001-1).

For the codes in Italian try I 4 codici e le leggi complementari [i.e. "The four codes and complementary laws"] Giuffrè, 2003.

For an English translation of the civil code see the 2 vol loose-leaf.: Beltramo, M. The Italian Civil Code and complementary legislation . New revised edition. Oceana, 1991-

See the main Italy research guide for further details.

For legislation since 1987 try the digest Giustizia civile : repertorio generale annuale di legislazione, bibliografia, giurisprudenza. Published annually, the main work is arranged alphabetically by subject. Indexes at the back allow searching by the date and number of the law. This digest can also be used to check whether any changes have been made to any particular piece of legislation in any given year since 1987. Alternatively if you know the date you can try the indexes in the annual volumes of Lex or, if you know the subject , try the index of legislation in force, both national and regional, shelved with Lex under the title La legislazione vigente 1981 . This series can also be used to locate laws pre-1987 whose date is known.

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Finding Cases

You should be able to find an Italian case if you have any one or more of the following pieces of information: party names , date case was heard, court where case was heard, subject .

Citation Style

Cass.civ.sez III, 27 aprile 1998 n.4285

Foro it . 1999, 1289

IALS Sources

See the website of the Italian Ministry of Justice for selected recent case law.

The main index is the digest Giustizia civile : repertorio generale annuale di legislazione, bibliografia, giurisprudenza [IALS 1987-] (see above) There are indexes at the end of each year allowing entry by party name, court name or date.

For cases pre-1987 for which you have the date you could try the annual indexes to the volumes of Foro italiano or Giurisprudenza Italiana (or its companion series Massimario della Giurisprudenza Italiana ) which allow searching by subject , date , party names or type of law (eg code, national, regional legislation)

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