Posted by Charlotte Oliver on Jul 21, 2020 in LEGAL UPDATES

Usually the Italian courts are “suspended” for the traditional Italian holiday month, from 1st to 31st August, and this period does not count in calculating any time limits for service or filing of court pleadings or defences and no hearings are listed. The Court of Ancona in Le Marche has announced this week that it will instead list more than 300 cases for hearings in both criminal and civil proceedings, on application by the parties, in an attempt to clear the backlog of work mounting up due to lockdown period adjournments.  This idea had already been floated by the Justice Minister but has not been implemented nationally, but it remains to be seen whether other local courts will follow the lead of Ancona. The local Bar Council in Ancona commented that this effort is unlikely to make much of a dent in the huge delays in the justice system compounded by months of court closure, as most cases have already been adjourned to 2021.