Last Updated on Wednesday, 3 February, 2021 at 9:04 am by Andre Camilleri
In 2019, Bank of Valletta had filed proceedings against Italy before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Bank had complained that Italian law does not provide a remedy for its fair hearing concerns in respect of the claim made against the Bank by the curators in the bankruptcy of the Deiulemar Group before the courts of Torre Annunziata, in Italy.
The ECHR has decided that the Bank’s application is, at this stage of the proceedings, inadmissible. The basis of the ECHR’s decision is that the Bank still has remedies to exhaust in Italy regarding its fair hearing concerns, and not because it considered the Bank’s complaint unmeritorious.
Bank of Valletta reiterates that the curators’ claim is entirely without any legal or factual basis, as has been unequivocally confirmed by opinions provided by independent legal experts. The Bank will continue to pursue its defence vigorously, including its fair hearing concerns, before the Italian courts. If those prove unsuccessful, the Bank will petition the European Court of Human Rights again, once the Italian remedies have been fully exhausted.
