Towards the Europeanization of Public Policy regarding Punitive Damages: an Inquiry between Theory and Practice

The chapter reflects over a possible European dimension of the public policy exception specifically affecting punitive damages – which is perceived by the Author as an ‘incomplete stop-motion sequence’ – and is largely inspired by the suggestions stemming from the Italian Court of Cassation’s judgment no 16601/2017 (Joint Divisions). The process towards the Europeanization of public policy in relation to punitive damages is still embryonic and poor of evidence. The contribution highlights how this trend would not only affect the content of the traditional Private International Law (PIL) exception but it would rather entail the re-consideration of the theoretical approach on the matter.