The testimony of family members is reliable (Il Quotidiano del lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore, 12 February 2021 – Alberto De Luca, Antonella Iacobellis)

The debate on the reliability of family members’ testimonies is recurrent, as they have a personal interest in the trial’s outcome.   

The Supreme Court has returned to the subject with its ruling no. 2295 of 2 February 2021, stating that for testimonial evidence, a witness who has a family or marriage relationship with one of the proceedings’ parties is not necessarily unreliable. Since the witness reliability cannot be excluded a priori, without other elements from which the judge may infer a loss of credibility.  

This principle was reiterated by the Court in the appeal against the Milan Court of Appeal’s ruling, which (in line with the first instance decision) confirmed the right of an employee to differences in salary and contributions, based on testimonial evidence admitted by the judge with the express exclusion of those related to the parties, due to “the greater reliability of persons unrelated to the family sphere of the disputants.”  

The employer appealed to the Court of Cassation objecting against the first instance judge’s ruling “which reduced the appellant’s list of witnesses, excluding party-related persons.”  

Continue reading the full version published in ll Quotidiano del Lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore.