known : the books had been removed to Milan, according to the evidence given at the hearings, "so that if we did have problems we could at least control the books" and "we had moved quite a lot of inventory [to Milan] so that we could sel1 it from there if we had to". 91. Fifthly, there was the attitude of the Sicilian administration: the Company was well aware that the administration was strongly opposed to a closure of the plant, or more specifically, to a dismissal of the workers. True, the measure used to try to prevent this - the requisition order was found by the Prefect to have lacked the "juridical cause which might justify it and make it operative" (paragraph 75 above). But ELSI's management in March 1968 could not have been certain that the hostility of the local authorities to their plan of closure and dismissals would not take practical form in a legal manner. The company's management had been told before the staff dismissal letters were sent out that such dismissals would lead to a requisition of the plant. 92. Al1 these factors point towards a conclusion that the feasibility at 31 March 1968 of a plan of orderly liquidation, an essential link in the chain of reasoning upon which the United States claim rests, has not been sufficiently established. 93. Finally there was, beside the practicalities, the position in Italian bankruptcy law. Article 5 of the Italian Bankruptcy Act of 1942 provides that "An entrepreneur who is in a state of insolvency shall be declared bankrupt. The state of insolvency, moreover, becomes apparent not only by default but also by other external acts which show that the debtor is no longer in a position regularly to discharge his obligations." ("L'imprenditore che si trova in stato d'insolvenza è dichiarato fallito. Lo stato d'insolvenza si manifesta con inadempimenti od altri fatti esteriori, i quali dimostrino che il debitore non è più in grado di soddisfare regolarmente le proprie obbligazioni.'7 This formula excludes a merely momentary or temporary disability, and refers to one which shows every sign of going on. "Regular" payment ("regolarmente'y apparently refers to payment in full at the due time. Given this definition it is apparent that ELSI could have been "insolvent" in the sense of Italian bankruptcy law, at the end of March, even though not actually in default. The Chamber has been given conflicting evidence on the question whether a debtor in such a position is bound under Italian law to go into bankruptcy, or whether he may still enter into voluntary composition with his creditors outside the supervision of the bankruptcy court (paragraph 25 above).

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