An arbitration clause, in the absence of an express contrary intention, must be interpreted as referring to arbitral jurisdiction all disputes arising from claims whose causa petendi lies in the contractual relationship to which the clause is annexed, to the exclusion of those for which the same contract merely provides a historical premise.
A clause referring a dispute to arbitration, as it affects the parties’ right of access to the courts, requires specific written approval under Article 1341 of the Civil Code where it is included in standard contract terms.
In the field of arbitration, the concurrent raising of the defence of arbitration and of a counterclaim does not amount to a waiver of the former, since the examination of the counterclaim is inherently conditional upon the rejection of the defence of arbitration.
In light of the declaration of unconstitutionality of Article 819-ter, paragraph 2, of the Code of Civil Procedure (Constitutional Court judgment No. 223/2013), where the defence of arbitration is upheld, the court shall grant the parties a time limit for the resumption of the dispute before the arbitrators.