Recreational boating law

The Firm ‒ two of whose members have contributed to the drafting of the Italian Recreational Boating Code under legislative decree 18 July 2005, no.171 ‒ provides legal advice and representation at Court in the main sectors of this area of practice. Advice also extends to the legal aspects related to the establishment and management of marinas ‒ including assistance in obtaining concessions and drafting of marina regulations and of model contracts for the management of moorings ‒ and to the contents of recreational craft charters.

Recent work includes:

• we have successfully represented several marina owning enterprises in Court disputes against Public Institutions, aimed at affirming the private nature of the dry docks obtained from private property and at challenging the Public Institutions’ demand to have them classified as state property;
• we regularly advise and represent marina concessionaires and owners of recreational craft in disputes concerning the interpretation and the performance of mooring contracts, and the recovery of marinas’ claims, also by exercising liens, attachments and judicial sale of recreational craft of defaulting clients;
• we are advising and representing a concessionaire of a marina in an appeal lodged against it before the Regional Tax Court of Friuli – Venezia Giulia in a dispute against the Italian Tax Authority concerning the correct determination of the classification and attribution of the cadastral income with respect to the buildings of the marina;
• we have represented a company operating in the recreational boating sector in proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights for the safeguard of the property right over the land where a dry dock was built;
• we have assisted several marina concessionaires in negotiating the contents of the concession relationship (or in renegotiating some of its aspects) with the granting authority;
• we have represented several marina concessionaires in disputes with local institutions regarding the application of taxes on waste disposal;
• we have provided advice to several marina concessionaires in the drafting of the contracts governing the different types of relationship with marina users;
• we have acted for several marina concessionaires in disputes aimed at challenging the Public Institutions’ demand to re-determine concession fees by retroactively applying art. 1 para 257 and ff. of Law 296/2007, which has introduced substantial changes in the way in which the concession fees of maritime state property are determined;
• we have acted for several concessionaires in Court proceedings for the compensation claims brought against them for damage suffered to berthed vessels, and in disputes concerning the extent of third-party insurance coverage of marinas;
• we have recently advised a sailing team in the drafting of a charterparty of a racing maxiyacht for the participation in a regatta;
• we have represented owners of non-EU recreational craft in criminal and tax disputes, resulting from alleged evasion of the taxes due for the importation of the craft into Italy.