The Italian Civil Code's Tort Provisions and their Application

Before examining the Italian tort provisions in detail it is opportune to provide an overview of the Italy’s civil law framework.  The Italian Civil Code begins with a general section of 31 articles on “Dispositions on the Law in General” and is comprised in total of some 3000 articles distributed throughout six “Books.” [1]: Book Four contains the provisions pertinent to obligations created either contractually or extra-contractually, the latter of which is the language used to describe how “tort” liability arises in Italy; i.e. the literal translation is: “extra-contractual obligations.”  Of Book Four’s nine “Titles,” [2] comprising some 900 articles, Title IX deals with “Unlawful Acts,” i.e., torts, or extra-contractual obligations, and contains sixteen articles setting forth the basis for tort liability.  These articles in turn cite and thereby tie in provisions from the other Titles and Books of the Civil Code, as we shall see, regarding matters such as causation, state of mind and damages.

The heart of the tort liability is found in two provisions. Article 1173, the first of Book Four, defines the “Sources of obligations” and reads “Obligations arise from contracts, unlawful acts, or any other acts or facts which are capable of producing obligations under the law.” The other, article 2043 is entitled “Compensation for unlawful acts,” which reads: “Any intentional or negligent act that causes an unjustified injury to another obliges the person who has committed the act to pay damages.”

[1] Book One, Persons and the Family; Book Two, Succession; Book Three, Property Rights; Book Four, Obligations; Book Five: Labor; Book Six, Protection of Rights.

[2] Title I, Obligations in General (articles 1173 – 1320); Title II, Contracts in general, (article 1321  – 1469); Title III, Specific Contracts (1470 – 1986); Title IV, Unilateral Promises (1987 – 1991); Negotiable Instruments (articles 1992 – 2027); Title VI, Management of the Affairs of Another (articles 2028 – 2032); Title VII, Payment of What Is Not Due (articles 2033 – 2040); Title VIII, Unjust Enrichment, (articles 2041 – 2042); Title IX, Unlawful Acts (articles 2043 – 2059).