Facts
Luigi V., an Italian national residing in Zurich, was divorced on 12 February 1957 from his wife Rosa L., who had in the meantime regained Swiss nationality. During the divorce proceedings, the wife admitted to having committed adultery from August 1956 onwards. However, the wife's pregnancy was not mentioned at the time. The divorce judgment only concerned the son Luigi, born in 1953, who was attributed to the father. On 7 June 1957, the daughter Anita was born, considered legitimate according to Art. 252(1) CC.
Convinced that the child was not his, father V. decided shortly after the birth, in June/July 1957, to contest the child's paternity, in accordance with Art. 8 LRDC and under Italian law (Art. 244 C.c.it.). He was represented by a lawyer in Varese, Lino Oldrini, who, however, was slow to act. After several unsuccessful reminders, the father finally filed the request for annulment of paternity with the District Court of Zurich on 15 November 1958, believing that according to Zurich case law, an Italian domiciled in Switzerland could bring this action before the Swiss judge of the mother's domicile at the time of the birth.
Considerations
The District Court of Zurich rejected the request due to lack of territorial jurisdiction, considering that Swiss courts are only competent for actions to contest the paternity of foreigners if the country of origin does not claim exclusive jurisdiction, which was not the case for Italy. The court also found that, even if jurisdiction were accepted, the applicable Italian law did not provide for grounds justifying the delay in the action, so the request would in any case be inadmissible.
On appeal, the Cantonal Court confirmed the rejection, considering that the fact that the time limit had been missed in Italy could not justify an exception to the rule of Art. 8 LRDC, as…