NEWS Supreme Court Judgments May 2019

Location of the speed camera, when the penalty is void

By order no. 12309/2019 the Supreme Court of Cassation, Sixth Civil Section ruling on the appeal of a municipality, clarified that if the detection device is placed in the opposite direction of travel than that indicated in the prefectural decree, the report is affected by derivative illegality.

This clarification, however, encounters a limitation. In fact, although the prefect is not obliged to indicate the direction of travel affected by the detection, the aforementioned violation exists whenever the decree specifies it and the speed camera device is not positioned accordingly.

Working beyond the agreed hours: compensation for damages

The performance of one’s work, as an employee in a company, for significantly more hours than contractually stipulated, gives rise to a right, in favor of the employee, to compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

The Supreme Court, Labor Section, by order no. 1254 of May 10, 2019 specifies that such damage, qualifying as psychophysical, is compensable even if the worker has consented to the overtime.

This pronouncement is also grounded in Article 36 of the Constitution, which enshrines, among other things, the prohibition of exceeding the maximum working day, which is established by law.

Neglecting a sick dog is a crime

In ruling no. 22579/2019 the Supreme Court equated mistreatment with the conduct of the owner who, in the presence of a manifest and obvious illness of the animal, fails to have it treated by a veterinarian, attributing particular relevance to the aggravation of the animal’s health condition resulting from the owner’s neglectful and omissive conduct.

Thus, there is an obligation on pet owners to strive for the welfare and health of their pets.

In this decision, the Court states the following principle of law “configures the injury relevant to the crime of animal abuse, Art. 544b, in relation to Art. 582, Criminal Code, the failure to treat a disease that results in the continuation of the disease with a significant aggravation source of suffering and appreciable impairment of the integrity of the animal”