The question of immunity in favour of the German state for Nazi crimes during the occupation of Italy from 1943-45 seemed to have been decided in favour of Germany by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2012. Nevertheless, in a judgment of 20 June 2022, the Regional Court of Bologna ordered the Federal Republic to pay damages in favour of the survivors of the 800 victims of Marzabotto, where the Waffen-SS murdered almost the entire civilian population between 9 September and 5 October 1944.

It is not to be expected that the judgement will become legally binding, as the Court of Cassation at the latest will observe the guidelines of the International Court of Justice. The latter classifies the crimes of the Waffen- SS as war crimes; the opposite view, which is held by the judge in Bologna, among others, sees the systematic extermination of the civilian population as an expression of a political intention of the Nazi state, which was not connected with war aims or means.