Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Disneyfication of the Italian Legal System

Recently, it has been reported that characters including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck (no relation) were summoned to appear in Italian court, in relation to a counterfeiting trial:

In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said. . . "Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland," the vice president of Disney Company Italia told The Associated Press.

This is true; as citizens of Disneyland, Mickey et al are essentially immune from international law. The "magic" kingdom is notorious for its isolationism (demonstrated by high tarriffs for a single-day visa, rigorously guarded borders and strict curfew for visitors) and has no extradition treaty with any of the EU member states. And, seeing as trying to extract an individual from "behind the happy curtain", as it's known in diplomatic circles, is far too dangerous, I think "clerical error" is definitely the right call here.

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