The time limit for challenging an arbitral award pursuant to Article 828 of the Code of Civil Procedure is subject to the court vacation suspension provided for by Article 1 of Law No. 742 of 1969, since the act of challenge is procedural in nature regardless of whether the award is characterized as jurisdictional or otherwise.
The nullity of an award for a decision rendered beyond the limits of the arbitration agreement under Article 829, paragraph 1, No. 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not arise when the arbitrator interprets the contractual documents specified in the arbitration agreement by using sector-specific regulations as an interpretative criterion to ascertain the common intention of the parties, provided that such interpretation does not depart from the *thema decidendum*.
An arbitration agreement may validly provide for the challengeability of an award not only on the grounds set out in Article 829, paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, but also for violation of the rules of law relating to the merits of the dispute, thereby extending the grounds for challenge beyond those legally prescribed.