From September 1st 2023, will come into force the new criteria for the drafting of procedural documents applicable to civil cases worth less than 500,000 euros. By Decree No. 110 of 7 August 2023, the Ministry of Justice, in accordance with art. 46 regarding the implementing provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, issued the first Regulation containing the criteria for drafting judicial acts.
The new rules make operational the principle of clarity and conciseness of procedural acts, introduced with Cartabia Reform art. 121 c.c.p. that states: “All the proceedings shall be drafted in a clear and concise manner” whose aim is, obviously, to speed up the duration of civil trials, starting from the documents deposited in the Courts. In accordance with that principle, the Rules lay down the criteria for the drafting of summons, appeals, responses, defence pleadings, counter-appeals and intervention measures, taking concrete action on their articulation (heading, indication of the parties, identification of the matters, division into facts and legal grounds, presence of the index of documents produced, etc).
In addition, the maximum length of the introductory documents is fixed at approximately 40 pages; in 26 pages the length of the pleadings, replies and, in general, all the other pleadings, with the exception of the written notes replacing the hearing referred to in Article 127-ter c.c.p., whose length is fixed in a maximum of 5 pages. The Decree then provides information on the size of the characters, as well as the spacing and horizontal and vertical margins to be used. Whether the dispute presents questions of particular complexity (also by reason of the type, number of parties and/or nature of the interests involved) the lawyer may not take into account the limits specified above, stating, however, synthetically in the act itself the reasons that made it necessary to overcome.
Compliance with the principle of clarity and brevity is, finally, also required by the courts in the drafting of the provisions; . in particular, separate and numbered garments shall be indicated for those subject to a challenge.
In any case, non-compliance with the new operating rules does not result in the invalidity of the acts, but the Judge may take this into account in the settlement of the costs of litigation.