The Court suspends the Lombardy Region’s Order No. 528 of April 11, 2020, which introduced measures for the prevention and management of epidemiological emergencies from Covid-19, with reference to the provision of letter h). Particularly, this provision allows home delivery by retail traders also for the categories not included in Annex 1 of Prime Ministerial Decree of April 10, 2020, as supplemented by MISE decree of March 25, 2020.
In recent days, the main trade unions have challenged Order No. 528 of April 11, 2020 of the Lombardy Region, with the object of “further measures for the prevention and management of epidemiological emergencies from Covid-19”, contesting the part in which “home delivery by retail traders is permitted for all product categories, even if they are not included in Annex 1 to the Prime Ministerial Decree of April 10, 2020” (letter h)).
The Regional Administrative Court of Milan, by decree No. 634 of April 23, 2020, suspended the effectiveness of the Lombardy Region’s decision (which did not appear in court) as a precautionary measure of urgency, noting a contrast between the regional decision and the state regulatory principles. Therefore, that has been considered a violation of the division of powers between the entities in competing matters – as in the case of health protection – pursuant to Article 117, paragraph 3 of the Constitution.
Differently from the Prime Ministerial Decree of April 10, 2020 that admitted trade on specified categories of goods considered essential or strategic, the regional order, authorized retail trade for all goods. As a consequence, the latter, expanding rather than restricting the permitted activities, would have infringed the provisions of Article 3(1) of Legislative Decree No. 19/2020, and it would have been in contrast with the emergency regulations contained in the aforementioned Legislative Decree and in the Prime Ministerial Decree.
According to the Milan Regional Administrative Court, the regional measure would ultimately affect the right to health of workers represented by the applicant trade unions.
As a result, from today, and at least until May 13 (date of the next hearing, unless the State intervenes otherwise on the matter), home delivery will be allowed in Lombardy only with reference to the categories included in Annex 1 of the Decree of April 10 by the government.