BERLIN, Germany: As Rome continues to allow Nazi war crime victims to claim compensation from the German state, even following an earlier ruling that such claims violated international law, Germany has filed a lawsuit against Italy at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest United Nations court.
Published on the ICJ website, Berlin’s application said Italy continues to allow compensation claims to be brought in domestic courts, despite the ICJ’s 2012 ruling stipulating this violated Germany’s right to immunity under international law.
Since the 2012 ruling, Berlin said there have been more than 25 new compensation claims filed in Italy against the German state for damages arising from Nazi crimes during World War Two.
Courts have ordered Germany to pay compensation in many cases, including two where Italian courts are trying to seize properties in Rome owned by the German state, which house German cultural, archeological, historical and educational institutions.
After an Italian court said it will decide by May 25 whether to force a sale of the buildings, Germany announced it has now filed the case at the ICJ.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, usually takes years to issue a final decision in cases.
The dispute over the twin claims began in 2008, when Italy’s highest court ruled that Germany should pay some 1 million euros to families of nine people killed by the German army in Civitella, Tuscany, in 1944.
A number of similar compensation claims followed.
According to Berlin, it has already paid out billions of euros since the war ended, with the Nazi regime’s defeat in 1945.
