Legislative Decree No. 149/2022 (i.e. the Cartabia Reform), which implements the delegated law for the efficiency of the civil process and the revision of alternative dispute resolution instruments (Law No. 206/2021), took effect on 28 February 2023. The decree extends lawyer-assisted negotiations in the labour disputes and the following is a summary of its most important new features.
Scope and requirements
Lawyer-assisted negotiations were introduced with the “Cartabia Reform” with the purpose of reducing the number of disputes before the courts, allowing the parties to reach an agreement outside of the agreements signed before the conciliation bodies.
Lawyer-assisted negotiations in labour matters are optional and are not a procedural condition for filing an action before the court.
The scope of application is defined by Article 409 of the Code of Civil Procedure (i.e. subordinate labour relationships, agency agreements and coordinated and continuous collaborations, labour relations of public employees and agrarian labour relations), which provides that each party must be assisted by at least one lawyer and, in addition, by an employment consultant.
The reform provides that lawyer-assisted negotiations can also be held remotely with the use of audio-visual and computer systems.
Lawyer-assisted negotiation procedures
From a procedural point of view, lawyer-assisted negotiations are established by one party's invitation to sign an agreement with another party.
The invitation must indicate the matter of the dispute (i.e. only the available rights) and the warning that failure to respond within 30 days of receipt or the refusal constitute an element that can be evaluated by the court for the purpose of calculating the legal fees or assessing liability for legal overreaction. Furthermore, the invitation must include the party's handwritten signature, authenticated by the lawyer.
If the invitation is accepted, lawyer-assisted negotiations are established by the signing of a covenant (i.e. the convenzione di negoziazione) between the parties, which must be in writing under penalty of nullity.
With reference to the interruption of the statute of limitations and forfeiture, it must be noted that the progression of such terms is interrupted by the communication to the other party of the invitation to the negotiation. From the same date, the statute of limitations is prevented for one time only. If the invitation is refused or not accepted within 30 days of receipt, the action before a court must be made within the same term of forfeiture starting from the refusal, non-acceptance within the period or the declaration of non-agreement certified by the lawyers.
Transmission of the agreement to the certification commissions
Once the procedural phase is over, if the parties reach an agreement, one of the parties must transmit it within ten days to a certification commission.
The agreement reached through lawyer-assisted negotiations, which constitutes an enforcement order (also valid for the registration of a judicial mortgage) without the need for any further formalities, is unchallengeable, pursuant to Article 2113 paragraph 4 of the Civil Code. Such “unchallangeability”, however, concerns only the economic part and does not extend to any contribution debts.
