Corte di Cassazione rules on Pec power of attorney errors

The Italian Court of Cassation, through ordinance no. 23670 issued on July 21, 2026, has clarified that the absence of a digital conformity stamp on a power of attorney (procura) sent via Certified Electronic Mail (Pec) does not automatically render a legal appeal inadmissible.

According to the ruling, which references article 196-novies of the implementing provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, a digital copy with a conformity attestation holds the same legal value as a paper original. However, if the attestation is missing, the appeal is not immediately void. Instead, the opposing party has the specific right to formally contest the conformity of the digital copy against the original document.

The Court applied the principle of 'instrumentality of forms' to ensure that mere technical errors do not obstruct the merits of a case. If the opposing party does not explicitly challenge the validity of the document, the lack of a stamp is effectively cured by their silence.