The Great War and the Reorientation of Italian Private Law

Abstract

The Great War presented a great challenge to Italian private law. Not only did war-time legislation give the government increasing power to intervene in the traditional domain of private law, but the experience of war also helped to precipitate longer term changes in Italian private law. The war itself saw the autonomy and purity of private law undermined in various respects: in the operation of special tribunals deciding cases on equitable grounds which favoured the weaker party; in regulatory interference in matters of contract and property; and in the labour market. Wartime problems also precipitated the rethinking of rules of law in a number of areas, where the roots of reform ran deeper—such as the law relating to orphans, married women and missing persons. At the end of the war, a royal commission was appointed to consider what reforms were needed in the post-war period, and how the Italian Civil Code could be redrafted in light of legislative lessons learned in the war.