Continuing To Allow Victims Of Nazi War Crimes To File Claims, Germany 'takes' Italy To The International Court Of Justice

International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. (Wikimedia Commons/International Court of Justice/Yeu Ninje)

JAKARTA - Germany has filed a case against Italy in the UN's highest court, as Rome continues to allow victims of Nazi war crimes to claim compensation, even after an earlier ruling that the claims violated international law.

Germany's application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, published on the court's website late Friday, says Italy continues to allow compensation claims to be brought to domestic courts, despite the ICJ's 2012 ruling that this violated Berlin's right to immunity under the law. international.

Berlin said that since the 2012 ruling, there have been more than 25 new compensation claims filed in Italy against the German state for damages arising from Nazi crimes during World War Two. In many of these cases, courts have ordered Germany to pay compensation.

To meet claims in both cases, Italian courts are seeking to confiscate property in Rome that is owned by the German state, Reuters reported April 30.

Germany said it had filed the case at the ICJ now, as an Italian court said it would decide on May 25 whether to force the sale of buildings, some of which house German cultural, archaeological, historical and educational institutions.

Berlin has asked the court to take so-called interim measures to ensure Italy does not auction the property publicly while the broader case over compensation claims is being considered.

However, no date has yet been set for an interim action trial, but one is expected in the next few weeks.

It is known that it usually takes years for the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to issue a final decision in a case.

The dispute over World War Two compensation claims began in 2008, when Italy's highest court ruled that Germany had to pay around 1 million euros to the families of nine people who were among the 203 people killed by German soldiers in Civitella, Tuscany in 1944.

Following the decision, a number of similar compensation claims followed.

Germany argues it has compensated for the injustices of World War Two in broad peace and reparations agreements with affected countries, paying billions of euros since the war ended with the defeat of the Nazi regime in 1945.