Great lawsuits of our time
In which the head of the House of Savoy, and pretender to the throne of Italy, AKA Vittorio Emanuele Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amedeo Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria di Savoia (try fitting that in the average name box on a government form) and his son (who, rather feebly only has four middle names) are taking on the Repubblica Italiana, because, yes, you guessed it - they think their human rights have been violated.
As background, he lost his crown and was exiled after the war, following a referendum, and "They argue that by banning male members of the Savoy family from entering Italian territory, the constitution ran counter to the European Convention on human rights". They were allowed back in 2002, and it what might be seen as pushing their luck just a tad, they want €260 million in compensation, although they say any win would go to charity. The Venice in Peril Fund, maybe? Note that the Convention was only signed into law in 1950, so they have also taken a while to come up with this wheeze.
Should they win, the scope for litigation by others is quite substantial. Perhaps the heirs of Cromwell would like to try it on too.
As background, he lost his crown and was exiled after the war, following a referendum, and "They argue that by banning male members of the Savoy family from entering Italian territory, the constitution ran counter to the European Convention on human rights". They were allowed back in 2002, and it what might be seen as pushing their luck just a tad, they want €260 million in compensation, although they say any win would go to charity. The Venice in Peril Fund, maybe? Note that the Convention was only signed into law in 1950, so they have also taken a while to come up with this wheeze.
Should they win, the scope for litigation by others is quite substantial. Perhaps the heirs of Cromwell would like to try it on too.
Labels: Italy
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on Wednesday, November 21, 2007 at 12:31 pm.
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