Italy’s Court of Cassation has rejected the final challenge brought by Roma Cruise Terminal against passenger usage fees at the Port of Civitavecchia, confirming the legal basis of the charges and leaving the terminal operator responsible for the court costs.
The Court of Cassation’s United Sections upheld the classification of the charges as payments for general-interest port services rather than taxes.
As a result, Article 23 of Italy’s Constitution, which requires monetary obligations to have a statutory basis, was found not to apply to the charging system.
Roma Cruise Terminal operates the passenger facilities at Civitavecchia and is jointly owned by Costa Crociere and MSC Cruises, with RCG/Royal Caribbean Group as the third partner.
Civitavecchia is Rome's seaport and Italy’s largest cruise port by annual passenger traffic.
The terminal operator had argued that the Consiglio di Stato had failed to rule on the applicability of Article 23 and had therefore exceeded its judicial powers. The Court of Cassation rejected this argument, finding that the administrative court had addressed the issue by determining the legal nature and basis of the charges.
The fees were introduced in 2017 by Decree No. 255/2017 of the Port System Authority of the Central-Northern Tyrrhenian Sea. They apply to cruise passengers disembarking in concession areas and are associated with general-interest services related to cruise traffic.
Roma Cruise Terminal and other representatives of the cruise industry initially challenged the decree. The Lazio Regional Administrative Court annulled the original measure because the port authority had not obtained an opinion from its partnership body, although that opinion was not binding.
The port authority subsequently obtained the required opinion and adopted a revised measure maintaining the charging system. A further challenge was rejected by the Lazio court, and the Consiglio di Stato confirmed those decisions in 2024.
The Consiglio di Stato determined that general-interest services provided to port users could be supplied on a fee-paying basis and did not have to be financed entirely through the port authority’s budget. It identified Article 6, paragraph 4, of Law 84/1994 as the statutory basis for the charges.
The administrative court also determined that the president of the Port System Authority had the authority to issue the relevant decree under Article 8 of the same law. The Court of Cassation’s decision now closes the remaining jurisdictional challenge to that ruling.
Civitavecchia recorded its highest-ever cruise passenger volume in 2025, handling 3,556,559 passengers, a 2.8% increase over 2024. The figure comprised 1,829,701 transit passengers and 1,726,858 homeporting passengers (embarking or disembarking at the port).
Port Civitavecchia recorded 862 cruise ship calls in 2025, compared with 841 in 2024.
The Port System Authority of the Central-Northern Tyrrhenian Sea also has jurisdiction over the ports of Fiumicino and Gaeta, with responsibilities that include maintaining common port areas and arranging paid general-interest services for port users.