The Hague (Reuters) – Germany filed a lawsuit against Italy before the U.N. High Court because Rome allows victims of Nazi war crimes compensation even though it was previously ruled that they were not in accordance with international law.

Germany submitted a request to the International Court of Justice. The application was published late Friday on the court’s website. It states that Italy still allows claims for compensation to be made in local courts despite an ICJ 2012 decision declaring Berlin’s right of immunity under international law.

Berlin states that there have been over 25 additional claims in Italy for compensation from Germany since the 2012 ruling. These claimants are seeking damages due to Nazi crime during World War Two. Many of these cases resulted in Germany being ordered to compensate.

Italian courts have taken possession of properties that the German state owns in Rome to satisfy claims made in the two cases.

Germany claims it has now filed the case with the ICJ because an Italian court stated it would decide whether it wants to forcibly sell the buildings. Some of these buildings house German cultural and archeological institutions.

Berlin requested the court to adopt so-called temporary measures in an effort to stop Italy’s public auction of the property. Its wider claim for compensation is still being reviewed. Although no date for the hearing of provisional measures has been established, one will be held within the next few days.

The ICJ (also known as the World Court) can take years to make a decision on cases.

In 2008, the dispute about compensation for World War Two began when Italy’s top court decided that Germany must pay approximately 1,000,000 euros to nine families of victims who were killed in Civitella in Tuscany by the German army.

There were many similar compensation claims.

Germany claims that it has paid billions of Euros to compensate for World War Two injustices, through numerous peace and reparations agreements with affected countries.