Italian Court of Cassation clarifies injunction and statute of limitations

The Italian Court of Cassation, in ordinance no. 14481 of May 15, 2026, has clarified the legal distinction between the interruption and suspension of the statute of limitations regarding injunction orders.

The ruling establishes that the notification of an injunction order interrupts the statute of limitations but does not suspend it. Consequently, if a legal proceeding is terminated due to a failure to resume the case before the competent judge, any previous legal acts lose their effectiveness, and the statute of limitations begins to run again.

The case involved a bank seeking an injunction against a condominium for unpaid fuel supply debts. After the initial court declared itself incompetent for territory and the bank failed to resume the proceedings, the case was terminated. When the bank attempted a second monitoring procedure, the condominium claimed the debt had expired under the statute of limitations. The Court of Cassation's decision confirms that the expiration of the process renders previous acts ineffective for stopping the clock on the statute of limitations.