Can an Italian Court affirm jurisdiction for a ship arrest when, at the time the application for arrest is filed, the vessel is not yet in Italian territorial waters? By its order dated December 29, 2025, the Court of Ravenna answered in the affirmative. In this article Avv. Barisione comments that in the case at stake, the claimant filed the arrest application when the vessel was still sailing in international waters. Only after the commencement of the proceedings the vessel called at the port of Ravenna. In spite of the defendant's defence, which challenged Italian jurisdiction based on the general principle of Article 5 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure, according to which jurisdiction is determined by reference to the factual situation existing at the time the application for seizure is filed, the Court did not apply the said jurisdictional criterion, deeming it necessary to apply Italian private international law criteria and in particular arts. 8 and 10 of Law No. 218/1995, focusing on subsequent events, i.e. the vessel’s arrival in an Italian port and the place where the precautionary measure would have been enforced.
