Further Amendments to Italian Civil Procedure

Following the agitation that has affected all of the Bars throughout Italy and which led to a significant blockage of civil and criminal hearings for around two months, the famous mini-reform of Italian civil procedure has experienced considerable and innumerable revisions in relation to the usual urgent measures.

Apart from changes in competence in accordance with the value of the case (the lower court of the Pretore can now deal with matters with a value of up to fifty million Lire), in particular a timely attenuation of the so-called "time-bars", or the time limits during proceedings within which a party must perform a certain act (for example, ask for witness evidence, or raise an objection), has distinguished itself, non-compliance with which will lead to a party losing the right to exercise the relative option. The numerous time-bars provided, which make it possible to distort the outcome of a trial by purely procedural means were, in fact, demagogically introduced on the