Vietnam Airlines appeals against Italian lawyer’s lawsuit

      Vietnam Airlines will petition Italian judiciary agencies to clarify the nature of a lawsuit filed by a lawyer of Vietnam Airlines’ former agent in Italy, said the national flag carrier’s General Director Pham Ngoc Minh.
”In this lawsuit, the airline is being taken advantage of and imposed with an unjust and unreasonable judgment,” Mr Minh told the press on March 16, adding that Vietnam Airlines will continue to appeal against a Rome court’s verdict ordering the airline to pay damages to the lawyer.
Lawyer Maurizio Liberati was hired in 1992 by the airline’s agent in Italy, the Falcomar Co. Mr Liberati claimed that he provided professional services to the airline in line with his agreement with Falcomar. When he was sacked by Falcomar, he took both the agent and Vietnam Airlines to court.
According to General Director Pham Ngoc Minh, Vietnam Airlines is considering the possibility of taking Falcomar’s former Director De Montis to Vietnam’s court for his swindle.
Mr Minh said that except for a single invitation from the Rome lower court in 1994, Vietnam Airlines had not received any notice or invitations from the Rome court to attend trials on the case. The Rome court even did not send its verdict No. 8395 dated March 7, 2000 to Vietnam Airlines and diplomatic agencies of the two countries. As a result, Vietnam Airlines could not make timely appeal against the unreasonable judgment.
The carrier only learnt about the Rome Court’s verdict from a letter sent by lawyer Liberati to require the airline to pay damages of 4.3 million EUR. At that moment, the deadline for appeal had expired in accordance with Italy’s laws.
For many years, Vietnam Airlines sent its complaints to the Rome Appeal and the Paris Court, but on December 16, 2008, the Rome Appeal Court issued a decision refusing the airline’s appeal. The court is scheduled to make its last consideration on the appeal on April 2 before coming to the final decision.
Mr Minh said Vietnam Airlines will fight for its legitimate interest. “I believe that justice will finally be protected and executed despite differences in geological locations or judiciary systems of the two countries,” he added.