In Italian law, the term famiglia/family has undergone significant diachronic and semantic variations. This transformation has been accelerated by the legal recognition of unioni civili and convivenze di fatto, following the entry into force of Law no. 76 of 20th May 2016, which, in formal terms, has led to numerous problems of interpretation of the rules relating to family ties. As far as company law is concerned, there are rules that refer to famiglia, others that consider only coniuge/spouse, parenti/relatives who are related and affini/relatives by affinity, and still others that provide for specific family relationships. In these cases, Italian law interprets the term famiglia broadly, also including famiglia di fatto, because of a diachronic variation in the meaning of the term and its necessary adaptation to the current legal and social context. On the other hand, the reference to the formal notion of parenti and affini refers only to the family based on marriage, in the absence of recognition by the law of parentela/kinship and affinità/affinity in unione civile and convivenza di fatto. This raises problems of interpretation. The most notable of these relate to company mandates that do not allow family ties between the persons exercising them. The transition from the bankruptcy law, which focused on the family based on marriage, to the new Codice della crisi d’impresa poses considerable problems in terms of regulating business crises. These contradictions are, however, partly resolved at the level of special regulations and self-regulation, which provide for the application of certain rules to multiple relationships characterised by a bond approaching a family bond, thus exceeding the limits of the legitimate family.
Variations diachronique et jurilinguistique du terme famiglia : le cas du droit italien de l’entreprise (E. Bracchi, M. Tola)
Manuela Tola
2026-01-01
Abstract
In Italian law, the term famiglia/family has undergone significant diachronic and semantic variations. This transformation has been accelerated by the legal recognition of unioni civili and convivenze di fatto, following the entry into force of Law no. 76 of 20th May 2016, which, in formal terms, has led to numerous problems of interpretation of the rules relating to family ties. As far as company law is concerned, there are rules that refer to famiglia, others that consider only coniuge/spouse, parenti/relatives who are related and affini/relatives by affinity, and still others that provide for specific family relationships. In these cases, Italian law interprets the term famiglia broadly, also including famiglia di fatto, because of a diachronic variation in the meaning of the term and its necessary adaptation to the current legal and social context. On the other hand, the reference to the formal notion of parenti and affini refers only to the family based on marriage, in the absence of recognition by the law of parentela/kinship and affinità/affinity in unione civile and convivenza di fatto. This raises problems of interpretation. The most notable of these relate to company mandates that do not allow family ties between the persons exercising them. The transition from the bankruptcy law, which focused on the family based on marriage, to the new Codice della crisi d’impresa poses considerable problems in terms of regulating business crises. These contradictions are, however, partly resolved at the level of special regulations and self-regulation, which provide for the application of certain rules to multiple relationships characterised by a bond approaching a family bond, thus exceeding the limits of the legitimate family.
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