Court filing fee reimbursement is included in a costs order even without express mention

Omission of the Italian court filing fee, the contributo unificato, from a costs assessment does not always require an application to correct the decision. In its order of 24 February 2024, the Tribunal of Lecce explained that a costs order implicitly includes reimbursement of that fee paid by the successful party.

The application sought correction of an earlier judgment on two grounds: omission of the filing fee and failure to award an additional legal fee for hyperlinks. The Tribunal examined the issues separately and held that neither called for the correction requested.

For the filing fee, it referred to Court of Cassation order No. 18828/2015. Under the principle cited, reimbursement is an obligation arising from the costs order. Express mention of the amount is therefore unnecessary if payment is documented; the receipt can also be checked at the enforcement stage.

The additional fee for digital submissions was a different matter. Its award required an assessment of the actual usefulness of hyperlinks and a different determination of the legal fees. It was not simply a formal error in recording the decision that could be rectified.

The correction application was dismissed. That dismissal did not deny reimbursement of the filing fee: precisely because reimbursement was already included in the costs order, no correction was required on that point. The decision distinguishes an expense recoverable on proof of payment from a professional fee increase requiring a specific judicial assessment.

View the court decision (PDF) ↗

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