In its judgment No. 668 of 25 May 2012, the Court of Cassation reaffirmed the principle of ultratractivity of the contractual relationship. According to that principle, an agency contract of indefinite duration does not terminate when one of the contracting parties terminates the contract, but only when the notice periodestablished in the interest and for the protection of the non-terminating party.

In the present case, the principal communicated his intention to terminate the contract; in the course of the notice periodthe agent also communicated its intention to terminate the contract.

According to the Court, this very declaration by the agent was to be regarded as an implicit waiver of the notice period, with the result that the agent could not request theindemnity in lieu of notice.

In the present case, therefore, given that "the termination of the relationship remains attributable to the will of the principal, the latter remains obliged to pay the termination indemnity pursuant to Article 1751 of the Civil Code."The agent, in fact, is entitled to the indemnity under Art. 1751 of the Civil Code even when he withdraws from the contract for circumstances that, although not constituting a just cause, are attributable to the principal.

 

 

Next stop: paradise (1991)
Directed by Albert Brooks