Covid-19 in Italy: postponement of hearings and suspension of procedural time-limits

On 17 March 2020, the President of the Italian Republic issued the Law Decree no. 18 (the so-called “Decreto Cura Italia”), containing  “measures aimed at strengthening the National Healthcare Service and supporting families, workers and businesses affected by the epidemiological emergency of Covid-19” (the "Decree”).

The Decree amends and partially repeals the previous legislative interventions aimed at addressing the Covid-19 epidemic on the national territory.
Among the measures adopted, article 83 of the Decree sets out a series of rules related to the pending civil and criminal proceedings, extending the suspension period (that had been previously set until 22 March 2020) and laying down further provisions. The main provisions are the following.
In the period between 9 March 2020 and 15 April 2020 (the “Suspension Period”):
(iv)    All hearings scheduled in the Suspension Period are postponed until after 15 April 2020; 
(v)    All procedural time-limits (e.g. for the serving of writs of summons, for the filing of defensive briefs, for the lodging of an appeal, for applications related to enforcement proceedings) running during the Suspension Period are suspended. This means that:
a.    procedural time-limits that were due to begin during the Suspension Period, will begin to run after the end of it;
b.    procedural time-limits that began to run before the Suspension Period are suspended during the Suspension Period and will continue to run after the end of it;
c.    where procedural time-limits are to be calculated backwards with respect to an event (e.g. the defendant must file its appearance 20 days before the first hearing), the event (e.g. the hearing) is postponed as to allow the time-limit to be observed.
(vi)    The procedural time-limits for Mediaton procedures of other ADR are also suspended during the Suspension Period 
The Suspension Period does not apply to some specific proceedings listed in article 83 paragraph 3 of the Decree (these are proceedings regarding sensitive issues that cannot be postponed, e.g. serious situations involving minors). The Courts are also entitled to decide case by case and to exclude from postponement those cases that require an urgent decision in order to avoid serious harm to the parties.
Moreover, even after the Suspension Period, in the period between 16 April and 30 June 2020 the Courts may adopt further measures to counter the risk of infection, such as:
•    restrict public access to judicial offices;
•    conduct civil hearings using remote communications system;
•    postpone hearings after 30 June 2020.