A comparative table of false friends
True friends, false friends and partial friends
Comparative lawyers distinguish three relationships between terms of two legal languages. True friends are terms that look alike and mean the same thing, such as mutuo (loan for consumption), ipoteca (mortgage), società in nome collettivo (general partnership) or testamento olografo (holographic will). Their equivalence is never perfect, because the regime that surrounds the concept differs from one legal order to the other, but a translation with the identical word does not mislead. False friends look alike and mean different things. The Swiss precetto esecutivo and the Italian atto di precetto, the Swiss procuratore and the Italian procuratore, or the Swiss Consiglio di Stato and the Italian Consiglio di Stato belong to this group. Partial friends overlap in part: the Swiss and Italian fideiussione both designate a suretyship, but the Swiss rules on form, maximum amount and the distinction from an independent guarantee differ so much that a document drafted on the Italian model may be void in Switzerland.
A fourth category consists of terms that have no counterpart. The Swiss atto di carenza di beni (certificate of loss issued after unsuccessful debt enforcement), the rigetto dell'opposizione (setting aside of the debtor's objection to a payment order), the imposizione secondo il dispendio (lump-sum taxation on expenditure) and the patriziato exist only in Swiss law. Conversely, Italian institutions such as the collegio sindacale (board of statutory auditors), the patto di famiglia (family pact for the transfer of a business) or the decreto ingiuntivo (court payment order issued on documentary evidence) have no Swiss equivalent.1 A translation of such terms must explain the concept, usually by keeping the original term in italics and adding a short description or a reference to the statute.
The table
The following table collects the divergences that recur most often in the work of Lugano's banks, fiduciaries and law firms. The left column gives the Swiss Italian term with its legal basis, the second the term that an Italian lawyer would use for the same or the nearest concept, the third the Swiss meaning and the fourth the typical trap. The table cannot replace the statutes, which the following sections cite in detail. Swiss Italian Italian Republic term Swiss meaning Typical trap term società anonima società per azioni (SpA), company limited SA in Italy evokes (SA), Art. 620 Art. 2325 c.c. by shares the pre-1942 name CO società a società a responsabilità limited liability "Srl" used for a garanzia limitata (Srl) company Swiss entity limitata (Sagl), Art. 772 CO gerente, Art. 809 amministratore managing officer Italian gerente is a CO of a Sagl shop manager consiglio consiglio di board of an SA true friend, d'amministrazio amministrazione different duties ne ufficio di collegio sindacale / external auditor no Swiss sindaci revisione revisore legale registro di registro delle imprese commercial different publicity commercio register effects procura, institore / procuratore, registered Italian procura is procuratore, Art. Art. 2203, 2209 c.c. general any power of 458 CO commercial attorney authority precetto decreto ingiuntivo payment order Italian precetto esecutivo, Art. 69 (nearest) without court presupposes a title LEF opposizione / opposizione a decreto debtor's burdens and rigetto ingiuntivo objection and its timing differ dell'opposizione removal sequestro, Art. sequestro conservativo, attachment of grounds differ 271 LEF Art. 671 c.p.c. assets fallimento liquidazione giudiziale bankruptcy Italian term (since 2022) replaced pretore giudice di tribunale first-instance Italian pretore (since 1999) judge abolished Ministero pubblico ministero, prosecution office vs function pubblico Procura della service Repubblica appello, reclamo, appello, reclamo, ricorso appeal, admissibility and ricorso per cassazione complaint, scope differ appeal to Federal Supreme Court fideiussione, Art. fideiussione, Art. 1936 suretyship Swiss form strict, 492 CO c.c. Italian free promessa della contratto autonomo di independent wrong label voids prestazione di un garanzia guarantee the guarantee terzo, Art. 111 CO diritto di opzione di acquisto, Art. option to Swiss right can be compera 1331 c.c. purchase land annotated in land register usufrutto usufrutto usufruct different spouse regimes porzione legittima, quota di compulsory share quotas differ legittima riserva contratto prohibited (patti contract of void in Italy successorio successori, Art. 458 c.c.) succession domicilio, Art. 23 residenza / domicilio, place of residence different tests CC Art. 43 c.c. with intent fiduciario società fiduciaria / licensed no Swiss fiduciaria trustee professional licence (accountant, real estate) imposizione imposta sostitutiva (Art. lump-sum different bases secondo il 24-bis TUIR) taxation dispendio patriziato none (nearest: usi civici) corporation of no Italian old citizens equivalent Consiglio di Giunta regionale cantonal in Italy: supreme Stato government administrative court Gran Consiglio Consiglio regionale cantonal — parliament Municipio Giunta comunale municipal in Italy: town hall executive
Notes
- Federal Chancellery, Glossario esecuzione e fallimenti, listed among the terminological tools at https://www.bk.admin.ch/it/banche-dati-glossari-e-altri-strumenti. On the Italian patto di famiglia see Brocardi.it, "Art. 458 Codice civile – Divieto di patti successori", https://www.brocardi.it/codice-civile/libro-secondo/titolo-i/capo-i/art458.html, which reserves Art. 768-bis ff. c.c. The collegio sindacale is governed by Art. 2397 ff. c.c. and the decreto ingiuntivo by Art. 633 ff. c.p.c. ↩
For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.