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According to article 1703 of the Italian Civil Code, the contract of “mandato” may be stipulated in any form and entails the creation of specific obligations upon each contracting party. Article 1709 provides that its execution by a professional is not free, unless otherwise agreed.

With regard to the assignment of a task to a professional, the jurisprudence is of the opinion that the professional is required to prove the said assignment, by any means suitable to clearly manifest the will of their client to take advantage of their work.

As to the evidence necessary to demonstrate such assignment, with judgment no. 1792 of last 24th January, the Court of Cassation has stated that, in the absence of a written contract, the assignment may be proved also by means of an e-mail, even if not certified.

In this decision, which appears to be in contrast with a ruling of a few weeks ago (Cass., no. 8 of 3rd January 2017 – see our news of 9th January 2017), the Court has upheld the claim of an engineer who had already obtained an injunction for the payment of professional advice given to a client. The Court has explained that evidence of an assignment may be offered by the claimant also by means of a presumption.  

Therefore, it’s up to the judge of first or second instance to establish whether, in the case under their scrutiny, such evidence is given or not. Their decision, if logically justified, cannot be overturned by the Court of Cassation.