In recent years, antitrust damage actions have become quite popular in Italy. Customers are increasingly becoming aware of their right to compensation stemming from anticompetitive conducts, especially in connection with the decisions of the Italian Antitrust Authority (Agcm) and the European Commission (so called follow-on actions).
The Italian system has become more attractive for claimants - including foreign claimants - also thanks to the smooth implementation of EU Directive 2014/104 on the effective redress for the victims of competition law breaches. Not only has the right to compensation for harm caused by infringements of competition law been expressly acknowledged and regulated; in a bid to ensure consistent application of the new and innovative rules, the number of courts entrusted with hearing competition law damages claims has been reduced to just three nationwide.
Other factors may add to the attractiveness of the Italian courts for litigating antitrust damage claims:
- the costs of judicial actions are relatively low, compared with other jurisdictions;
- the involvement of experts may not be necessary up to the stage of the proceedings where evidence is collected and evaluated by the court;
- Italian judges are given wide discretion as to when and how to invite the parties to seek consensual settlement and may recommend to the parties the concrete terms of a potential settlement;
- nothing prevents third party funders from either funding or even purchasing cartel damages claims, a factor that may convince a number of otherwise reluctant victims to proceed against their suppliers;
- the - once infamous – overall length of judicial proceedings has significantly shortened and is currently in line with other major European jurisdictions, if not shorter.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
