NULLITA', LA TRADIZIONE, IL NUOVO SISTEMA:DAL RISPETTO DELLA PAROLA DATA AL CONSENSO INFORMATO.

The paper discusses a subject which in recent years has gained a high profile due to the provenance of its regulations of reference, to the sectors in which it is developing and also due to its protagonists – special nullities or protective nullities. Such nullities rather often originate in the purview of the European Community and are then implemented into Italian law thus becoming available to the internal operator. After a brief outline of the characteristics distinctive of traditional nullity, an overview of the many specific regulations pinpoints the various sectors and domains of law where cases of invalidity occur that may be covered by the definition of special nullity or that can be more or less explicitly linked thereto. This recognition lays the foundations for ascertaining and analysing the underlying principles of these juridical cases and for setting forth the salient aspects: initial effectiveness or lack thereof of the invalidated contract, justification of the action of enforcing invalidity, necessary partiality and term of prescription. The results of the study made reveal a continuity of the discipline and a uniformity of the essential elements of the case that lead to the conviction that this is not a traditional juridical type nor can it be associated tout court with what is described in articles 1418 and following of the Italian Civil Code but it is, rather, a veritable set of autonomous dispositions which - although they may not be the exact opposite of the type of traditional nullity but are in a manner complementary to it – culminate in creating a veritable system.