ICJ annuls all Nazi war crimes claims against Germany

Canada Standard Friday 3rd February, 2012

AMSTERDAM - The International Court of Justice has ordered Italy to annul all compensation claims against Germany for Nazi war crimes, saying Rome had breached international laws when its courts allowed the claims to be made, given that Germany has immunity under international law.

The ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague is expected to end a wave of claims for damages arising from a Nazi massacre in Italy during World War Two, and will also prevent other countries such as Greece from using Italy's courts to pursue a flood of similar compensation claims.

The dispute between the two countries arose after an Italian court ruled that Luigi Ferrini, an Italian who was deported to Germany and forced to work in the armaments industry, was entitled to compensation from the German government.

The case led to a flood of other claims from victims of Nazi war crimes in Italy. A total of 203 people died in the 1944 massacre.

In December 2008, Germany had filed the lawsuit against Italy at the ICJ.

The same year, Italy's highest court ruled that Germany should pay around 1 million euros in compensation to the families of nine victims of the killings, committed by the German army in Civitella, Tuscany.

"The Italian Republic has violated its obligation to respect the immunity which the Federal Republic of Germany enjoys under international law by allowing civil claims to be brought against it based on violations of international humanitarian law committed by the German Reich between 1943 and 1945," the ICJ said in a statement.

The ICJ ordered Italy to ensure that the decisions which were taken by its courts and which infringed Germany's immunity under international law, cease to have effect.

Welcoming the ruling, Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said it provided legal clarity while in no way diminishing German responsibility for the crimes of the Second World War.

"The proceedings were never aimed at the victims of National Socialism - the German government has always recognised their suffering to the fullest extent," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who was in Munich for the international security conference.

"Compensation for injustice was carried out in line with international law after World War Two, in the extensive peace and reparations treaties with affected countries," he added.

Germany has paid billions of euros in reparations and compensation since the war's end in 1945.

His Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi said Rome respected the ruling and welcomed its encouragement of dialogue between the two European Union members to resolve their dispute stemming from the actions of German troops in Italy during the war.

"In a way, we expected it," Italy's representative, Paolo Pucci di Benisichi, told reporters after the court ruling.