Italian Arms and Yemen

Legal challenges in Italy against arms transfers in the context of the Yemen war have taken a somewhat different approach to other jurisdictions as the claimants have sought to hold licensing officials, as well as the corporate managers of an arms manufacturer, criminally liable for arms exports to coalition states involved in the war in Yemen.

The fact that this complaint addresses the criminal liability of public officials is quite unique and goes beyond judicial efforts that seek to establish liability for violations of the ATT or EU Common Position that have been initiated in other national jurisdictions. Specifically, the claimant NGOs have called for the criminal prosecution of individuals responsible for activity that allegedly led to the use of Italian manufactured military components in an airstrike perpetrated by Coalition members in Yemen that resulted in civilian deaths.

On 10 March 2023, the Judge for Preliminary Investigations in Rome dismissed the case concerning the criminal responsibility of the defendants, despite confirming that Italy’s National Authority for the Export of Armament (UAMA) was “in violation of at least Articles 6 and 7 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)” by issuing export licenses to RWM Italia S.p.A. The judge did not consider the suspects prosecutable, as it could not be proven that the main intent of the directors of UAMA was to procure a pecuniary advantage to RWM Italia S.p.A.

Watch full webinar here (27 June 2023)