Article 16 of the Preliminary Provisions to the Italian Civil Code and Brexit

Following Brexit - or, rather, the entry into force of the WIthdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK -, as of 1.2.2020, the UK is no longer an EU Member State. Consequently, it is necessary to (re)determine whether and to what extent provisions of so-called Aliens Law (das Fremden- oder Auslanderrecht/derecho de extranjeria) of the EU Member States apply to UK nationals and legal persons. Below, I will investigate whether a specific provision of Italian Aliens Law, art. 16 of the Preliminary Provisions to the Italian Civil Code (hereafter, art. 16), applies to said UK nationals and legal persons. For this purpose, I will briefly introduce art. 16 and then investigate whether treaties in force for Italy or other provisions of Italian law may exclude the application of the article in question to UK nationals and legal persons.