In Italy, Section 492-bis of the criminal code, empowers the president of the Court to authorize the bailiff to perform an online research to find properties to be seized to satisfy a debt.

Section 155quinquies Disposizioni Attuative of the Criminal Code, authorizes creditors to carry out the search themselves, should the court’s staff not be able to do so due to technological impediments.

We are still waiting for an implementation decree of the Ministry of Justice and the Data Protection Authority to set forth the exact instances in which debtors’ data can be accessed and processed that way.

On June 6, 2015, the Court of Avellino held that Section 155quinquies authorizing the creditor’s access “in case of malfunctioning technological means” shall be interpreted to allow access not only in case of technical malfunctioning but also in case of legal impediments, which would include lack of the implementation decree.

As a consequence, now creditors in Italy have direct access to online government’ data bases to search debtors’ properties to seize.

More information is available (in Italian) at http://www.expartecreditoris.it/provvedimenti/ricerca-telematica-beni-da-pignorare-l-agenzia-delle-entrate-rilascia-al-creditore-l-anagrafe-tributaria.html#%2EVYPXA66KPw8%2Elinkedin

The Avellino Court’s decision is available (in Italian) at http://www.expartecreditoris.it/images/joomd/1434562685TRIBAVELLINO_06.06.2015.pdf

For more information, Francesca Giannoni-Crystal