Interessi moratori e usura: repressione del reato e tutela del mercato

The author analyses the institution of interests in the light of the current EU and national legislation governing this matter, noting its lack of coordination. He dwells on the issue of the possibility of applying the anti-usury legislation to excessive interest on arrears and, while agreeing with its appropriateness, criticizes the argumentative path taken by the United Sections in its judgment No. 19597/2020. The Court of Cassation has in fact invaded the sphere of the legislator, where certain profiles of unconstitutionality of Law 108/1996 would rather have required an intervention of the Constitutional Court or, in the consideration that default interest is not included in the anti-usury legislation, the application of a different remedy, such as the reduction of the contract in equity.