Headquarters of the Allied Force in Southern Europe (HAFSE) v. Trotta
Full Case Title: Headquarters of the Allied Force in Southern Europe (HAFSE) v. Trotta, Supreme Court (Court of Cassation - Civil Division), judgment of 7 July 1978
Reference Number: Judgment n. 3367
Type of Document: Judicial decisions
International Organization: NATO
Year: 1978
Issuing Body: Supreme Court
Country: Italy
Bruno Trotta, employed as a driver at the headquarters of the Allied Forces in Southern Europe (HAFSE – located in Italy) from June 1962 to May 1977, filed a lawsuit in Italian courts against the HAFSE requesting an increase in his salary in accordance with internal regulations and Italian law.
The HAFSE appealed the judgment of first instance before the Court of Appeal, which declared the jurisdiction of national courts over labour disputes brought against the HAFSE by local civil employees. The HAFSE appealed the judgment of Court of Appeal before the Supreme Court of Cassation.
The Supreme Court held that Italian court have jurisdiction to adjudicate labour dispute between NATO’s Headquarters Allied Forces Southern Europe and a local employee pursuant to the 1961 Agreement between Italy and NATO and the 1952 Protocol on the Status of International Military Headquarters set up pursuant to the North Atlantic Treaty. In particular, the agreements distinguish two different categories of NATO’s personnel. The first category includes the employees subject to “an international legal status” and exempted from the legislations and jurisdiction of host States. The second category, instead, consists of the locally recruited personnel, employed in the NATO’s headquarters under private law contracts.
The judgment confirms the interpretation on the HAFSE’s immunity from employment-related claims that the Supreme Court adopted in the precedent of HAFSE v. Capocci Belmonte and in its subsequent case-law.
In the case at stake, the Supreme Court stressed that “the division of civilian personnel in NATO organizations into international personnel and local personnel (as set out in the Convention between the Parties of the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the status of their force and the 1952 Protocol on the status of International Military Headquarters set up pursuant to the North Atlantic Treaty, and the Agreement on the Status of NATO Military and Civilian Installations in Italy) is rooted in the principle that not all employment relationships established by an international legal entity within the territory of another entity are inherent to the typical organization of that entity and are therefore subject to the substantive rules and jurisdiction of that entity“.
In other words, according to this reasoning, the above mentioned agreements, by subordinating local employees and international employees to two different legal regimes, would reflect the distinction between public or institutional activities (acta jure imperii) and private law activities (acta jure gestionis).