The enforcement of foreign decisions concerning punitive damages

Abstract

On 5 July 2017, the United Sections of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation delivered an interesting decision in which – for the first time – the Court opened the doors to punitive damages in the Italian legal system. In recent years, scholars have long debated on the role of punitive damages on the availability of punitive damages in the legal systems of the European Union. The case, which is obviously very interesting for the Italian perspective, offers at the same time the opportunity to understand if and under which circumstances punitive damages are admitted by case law also in other civil law countries