UN court rules against Italy in Nazi compensation caseFebruary 3, 2012 - 16:39 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN's highest court has ruled that Italy was wrong to allow its courts to make claims for compensation against Germany for Nazi war crimes, BBC News reported. The International Court of Justice's ruling confirms that Germany has legal immunity from being sued in foreign courts by victims of such crimes. Germany has paid tens of billions of dollars in reparations since the 1950s. It appealed to the UN court in 2008 after Italy's supreme court backed a claim by a former slave labourer. ICJ judge Hisashi Owada read out the verdict at the court's headquarters in The Hague. It found that the Italian supreme court had violated Germany's sovereignty in 2008 by judging that Italian civilian Luigi Ferrini was entitled to reparations for his deportation to Germany in 1944 to work as a slave labourer in the armaments industry. Mr Ferrini made his claim for compensation from Germany in 1998 and in 2004 the Italian supreme court decided in his favour. A wave of compensation claims ensued and as of September last year, there were 80 cases pending with 500 plaintiffs, German lawyers told the ICJ. Greece was also drawn into the dispute after relatives of Greek victims of a massacre in 1944 refiled a case before Italian courts. Germany had previously refused to pay compensation to the Greek claimants. Last year, German lawyers argued that the "consequences would be severe" if Italian courts were allowed to continue hearing such claims. Italy argued for its part that such claims were admissible as the abuses committed by German troops amounted to "international crimes" which had precedence over state immunity. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |