Re Marcinkus, de Strobel and Mennini

• Jurisdiction: Italia
• Date: 13 Maggio 1987
• Court: Court of First Instance (Vatican City)

Re Marcinkus, De Strobel and Mennini

(Ciprotti, President; Spinelli and Ottaviani, Judges)

Vatican City, Court of First Instance.

Extradition Jurisdiction of requesting State Vatican City Institute of Religious Works Whether jurisdictional immunity precluding extradition of officials of Institute to Italy Lateran Treaty, 1929, Article 11

State immunity Jurisdictional immunity Foreign States Entities of foreign States Vatican City Institute for Religious Works Scope of entitlement of Institute and its officials to jurisdictional immunity Criminal proceedings

States Holy See Vatican City Status under international law Lateran Treaty, 1929, Article 11 Central institutions of Catholic Church Right to non-interference from Italian State The law of the State of the Vatican City

Summary: The facts:Proceedings were instituted by the Italian authorities against various persons suspected of being implicated in illegal dealings by the Banco Ambrosiano, which had been declared insolvent by a decision of the Tribunal of Milan in 1982. The proceedings also concerned the Institute for Religious Works (the IOR), a body which had its seat in the Vatican City. In February 1987 an Examining Magistrate in Milan issued warrants for the arrest of three leading officials of the IOR.1 The Examining Magistrate also requested that proceedings for the extradition of the three officials should be instituted and a note verbale to this effect was sent by the Italian Government to the Vatican City authorities, who transmitted it to the President of the Tribunal of First Instance of the Vatican City. The Public Prosecutor, however, asked the Tribunal to declare that extradition was inadmissible because, under Article 11 of the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between Italy and the Holy See, the IOR was not subject to interference by the Italian authorities; so that its directors could not be prosecuted for acts performed in the exercise of their functions.

Held:The extradition request could not be granted.

The IOR was endowed with its own legal personality and was one of the central institutions of the Catholic Church which, pursuant to Article 11 of the Lateran Treaty, were exempt from all interference by the Italian State. The duty of non-interference enshrined in this provision applied to all the powers of the Italian State and entailed complete immunity from Italian

jurisdiction for the institutions concerned, which were instead subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State of the Vatican City. This applied in respect of all the activities of such institutions, even those carried out on Italian territory. To grant extradition for the offences alleged in this case would have amounted to an admission of Italian jurisdiction contrary to the requirements of Article 11

The following is the text of the judgment of the Court:

Course of the ProceedingsOn 28 March 1987, the State Secretary remitted to the President of the Tribunal of First Instance a note verbale (No 822 of 25 March 1987) issued by the Italian Embassy to the Holy See. This note had been previously conveyed to the State Secretary by the Minister for Justice of the Italian Republic. It requested the Embassy to inform the competent authorities of the Holy See that the Examining Magistrate attached to the Tribunal of Milan, acting under the terms of Article 22(2) of the Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See, had issued warrants for the arrest of three directors of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) who were thought to be resident within the territory of the Vatican State. The Examining Magistrate also requested that proceedings for the extradition of the three indicted directors should be instituted. A copy of the warrants of arrest was annexed to the notification.

By Presidential Decree of 30 March 1987, the records of the proceedings forwarded to the State Secretary were subsequently remitted to the Public Prosecutor who, on 1 April 1987, requested the...