A contractual expert determination, as an instrument designed to fix contractually an element of the dispute on the basis of purely technical criteria, falls within the scope of contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale), sharing with it the common functional feature of resolving the dispute through a mandate conferred on a third party in order to settle a disagreement and to establish a new arrangement of interests of a contractual nature.
Art. 810, para. 2, of the Code of Civil Procedure, which allows a party to apply to the president of the tribunal for the surrogate appointment of the arbitrator where the other party fails to appoint one, although enacted with reference to arbitration, applies by analogy to contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale) and to contractual expert determinations.