Court of Monza, order of 11 June / 13 July 2026. The order restoring possession was granted at first instance and then upheld in full by the panel.
What the case was about
Two neighbouring plots sharing an access. The owner of an agricultural property had for years crossed a yard to reach her land. The owners of the yard changed the lock on the gate, and the passage ended.
Their defence was the one always raised in these cases: the use had been mere tolerance, a neighbourly courtesy, not possession that the law protects.
What the court decided
The panel confirmed the restoration order and set out why, on a point that is often misunderstood. An action to be restored to possession under article 1168 of the Italian Civil Code is not an action to establish a right of way. The claimant does not have to prove an easement, nor the twenty years that would create one by prescription.
It is enough to prove the durable and peaceful use of the passage before the dispossession — the fact, not the title. The court relied on Court of Cassation decision 2367/2012.
Costs were awarded against the losing parties.
Why it matters
Possessory protection is fast, and that is its point: it restores the position as it was before the interference, leaving the question of who owns what to be fought later if anyone still wants to. For a foreign owner cut off from a path, a drive or a shared entrance, it is usually the right first move — and there is a one-year time limit from the dispossession.
A second lesson from this case: an order obtained is not an order enforced. If the other side does not comply, a further step is needed.