Clifford Chance
Italy's Supreme Court allows third parties to participate in mandatory mediations through third party representation
3 April 2019
In its Judgment No. 8473, published on 27 March 2019, Italy's supreme court, the Court of Cassation, has for the first time dealt with a number of issues regarding mandatory mediation, which article 5 of a recent Legislative Decree, No. 28/2010, made a precondition to a party's ability to bring a claim in a very wide range of areas of litigation.
More specifically, while the supreme court did underline how the parties were required to appear personally in the mandatory mediation procedure, it nonetheless agreed that "in making the mandatory appearance before the mediator, a party may also be substituted by a substantial representative, who may be the lawyer acting for them in the mediation procedure, provided they have a substantial power of attorney".
