General view of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Netherlands, January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File Photo
THE HAGUE, April 30 – Germany has taken Italy to the UN’s highest court for continuing to allow victims of Nazi war crimes to claim damages from the German state, even after it was previously ruled that such claims violate international law violate law.
Germany’s request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), published late Friday on the court’s website, says Italy will continue to pursue claims for damages before domestic courts, despite the International Court of Justice’s 2012 ruling that it violated Berlin’s international right to immunity courts allows.
Berlin says that since the 2012 judgment in Italy, more than 25 new claims for damages have been filed against the German state for damages arising from Nazi crimes during World War II. In many of these cases, courts have ordered Germany to pay compensation.
To settle claims in two cases, Italian courts are trying to seize properties in Rome owned by the German state.
Germany says it has now brought the case to the ICJ because an Italian court has said it will have until May 25 to decide whether to force a sale of the buildings, some of which house German cultural, archaeological, historical and educational institutions.
Berlin has asked the court to take so-called interim measures to ensure Italy does not publicly auction the property while its broader case over compensation claims is considered. A date has not yet been set for an interim measures hearing, but one is expected in the next few weeks.
It usually takes years for the ICJ, also known as the World Court of Justice, to make a final decision on cases.
The dispute over World War II compensation claims began in 2008 when Italy’s top court ruled that Germany should pay around €1 million to families of nine people who were among the 203 killed by the German army in Civitella, Tuscany, in 1944 .
A series of similar claims for damages followed.
Germany has argued it had already compensated for the injustices of World War II in extensive peace and reparations treaties with affected countries, paying billions of euros since the war ended with the defeat of the Nazi regime in 1945.
Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Catherine Evans