Recognition and Enforcement of U.S. Punitive Damages Awards in Continental Europe: The Italian Supreme Court's Veto

Different actors, same outcome: another European court has refused to recognize and enforce a U.S. punitive damages award, deeming them contrary to public policy. The article studies the developments of punitive damages in the United States, highlighting the anomalies that such doctrine carries with regard to both private and criminal law. Moreover, the paper analyzes the main (constitutional) hurdles which the Italian legal system might pose to the judicial recognition of U.S. punitive damages awards. The paper argues that the approach adopted by the European judges in dealing with the recognition and enforcement of U.S. money judgments -- and punitive damages in particular -- ought to be revised. A different approach on the part of the enforcing judge is possible and, as this paper intends to show, is rooted in the very doctrine of punitive damages. To such extent, going beyond the structural appearances of a foreign judgment of which one seeks recognition is not only advisable, but also necessary.