Cross-border legal support
Malta–Italy corridor
Close in distance, different in law.
Maltese residents injured on Italian roads or at sea, patients harmed in Italian hospitals, families who have lost someone in Italy: cases in which Maltese counsel and an Italian practice need to work as one. The firm works with Maltese law firms on claims that cross the Sicily Channel.
In English throughout, from the first call to the final settlement.
Typical cases
Or call +39 02 4003 1477
Two systems
When the accident or the treatment took place in Italy, the claim usually meets Italian rules at every step: the insurer’s procedure, the medico-legal assessment, the valuation of damage. Maltese counsel knows the client and the case; the Italian side needs to be built with the same care.
Sheet 1 · Jurisdiction
The Brussels I bis Regulation applies between Malta and Italy: the claimant may often sue the insurer before the courts of their own domicile.
Sheet 2 · Applicable law
Rome II usually points to Italian law for accidents in Italy, with an exception where both parties are habitually resident in the same country.
Sheet 3 · Evidence
Police reports, the criminal file and hospital records are in Italian and in Italy, and are best secured early.
Sheet 4 · Valuation
Italian criteria, Italian figures
Under Italian law, non-pecuniary loss is valued through tables that start from the medico-legal percentage of impairment. A claim valued by other criteria risks being misjudged in either direction.
Malta–Italy
Each answer leads to an in-depth guide, with references to the legislation and case law it rests on.
In principle, yes. The Brussels I bis Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 allows an injured party to bring a direct action against the liability insurer before the courts of their own domicile (Articles 11 and 13, following Odenbreit, C-463/06), and Italian law grants that direct action in motor claims (Article 144 of the Private Insurance Code). The applicable law, however, will usually remain Italian under Article 4 of the Rome II Regulation, and with it the Italian rules on damages.
Yes. Under Directive 2009/103/EC, each motor insurer must appoint a claims representative in every other Member State (Article 21), who must make a reasoned offer, or give a reasoned reply, within three months of the claim (Article 22). Where the insurer or its representative fails to do so, the compensation body of the victim’s own State can intervene (Article 24); the same bodies act where the vehicle or the insurer cannot be identified (Article 25).
The liability of carriers of passengers by sea is governed by Regulation (EC) No 392/2009, which gives effect in the European Union to the Athens Convention: strict liability up to set limits for shipping incidents, fault-based liability for other incidents, and a two-year time bar under Article 16 of the Convention.
Medical liability in Italy is governed by Law No 24/2017. Before suing, the claimant must attempt either a pre-action expert assessment (Article 696-bis of the Code of Civil Procedure) or mediation (Article 8 of the Law). The full medical records should be requested from the hospital at once.
Often, yes. Non-pecuniary loss is valued through tables: those developed by the Court of Milan, widely applied across Italy, and the statutory tables for road traffic and medical liability claims. The figure is built from the medico-legal percentage of permanent impairment, adjusted to the circumstances of the case.
The practice
The firm, led by Avv. Roberta Scarpellini in Milan, handles only cases of serious personal injury and death, and takes on a limited number of them after careful analysis. Each case is followed personally from the first review to its conclusion, with a team assembled for that case.
Much of the work is done at the negotiating table: out-of-court negotiation with Italian insurers, prepared as thoroughly as litigation and aimed at the fullest compensation the evidence supports. Avv. Scarpellini is also President of NEVRA ETS, the Italian non-profit working for the legal recognition of neuropathic pain.
Working with her
for the compensation claim and civil-party proceedings
chosen case by case for the specific injury
when liability is disputed
when the damage calls for them
Every enquiry is read personally. Please do not attach confidential client documents to your first message: we will tell you what we need.
The firm in Italy
For clients based in Italy, the firm’s main website covers serious personal injury from road collisions and medical malpractice. studioscarpellini.com →