With judgment no. 14188/2016, the italian Supreme Court Corte di Cassazione reaffirmed (as already affirmed, in fact, by judgment  no. 27648/2011) that the pre-contractual liability - in this case, the responsibility of the Public Administration- is not attributable to a type of non- contractual liability, but it must be considered as a "qualified social contact", thus art. 1173 of the italian Civil Code is applicable.

In december 2011, with judg. no. 27648/2011, it was stated that pre-contractual liability is to be considered as a "qualified social contract".