NANNI AND

OTHERS V.
PACE AND THE
SOVEREIGN
ORDER OF
MALTA

8 A.D. 2, Italian Court of

Cassation, 1935
 WHO ARE THEY?

q The Sovereign Order of Malta is a lay religious order

established in 1113 to promote Christianity and to
provide medical assistance to the sick and
vulnerable.
q It is considered as a subject of international law with
diplomatic relations with over 100 states and the
European Union.
q Its seat of government is currently found in Rome
since 1834 where it is granted extraterritorial rights.
 FACTS OF THE C ASE

q In 1863, Mattia was granted by the

Sovereign Order of Malta the Church of St.
Rocco as an ecclesiastical benefice which
was supposed to be handed down to his
family’s firstborn males.
q The Sovereign Order of Malta was to
approve the candidates of the church
office’s leadership with a condition that if
the family line becomes extinct, the
benefice would pass on to the Order.
q Mattia was succeeded by Annibale.
 FACTS OF THE C ASE

q Before Annibale’s death, he sold the land on

which the church was built to Nanni and
several others.
q In 1923, the Council of the Sovereign
Order of Malta issued a resolution
permanently conferring the benefice upon
Guisseppi – Annibale’s only heir.
q The Tribunal de Avezzano declared the
benefice to be void for lack of authorization
from the Italian state.
 FACTS OF THE C ASE

q However, this was reversed by the Council

of Aquila which upheld the resolution of the
Sovereign Order.
q Nanni and others were contending that the
Sovereign Order is required to obtain
authorization from the State first before
conferring an immovable property to
another. Thus, the resolution should be
declared void.
 ISSUE

Whether or not the grant by the Sovereign Order of Malta in favor of Guisseppi
is invalid because of lack of state authorization?
 RULING

q The Italian Court of Cassation held that the

Sovereign Order of Malta possess a distinct
juridical entity stemming from its formation,
historical development and the role it has
played in propagating Christianity and the
European ideals.
q Such juridical personality has also been
recognized by the Italian state through
various occasions.
 RULING

q In accordance with a customary norm of

international law which has also been
adopted by Italy’s domestic laws, a juridical
entity such as the Sovereign Order of
Jerusalem and Malta is exempted from the
requisite of obtaining state authorization in
the acquisition of immovable property for
its own institutional purposes.
q Thus, the endowment of the benefice in
favor of Guisseppe was valid.
THANK YOU!