A challenge to an arbitral award for nullity pursuant to Article 829, paragraph 1, no. 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure is well-founded where, following an action for forgery (querela di falso) brought as a principal claim and determined by a final judgment, the material falsity of the signatures appended to the contract containing the arbitration clause has been established, with consequent declaration of nullity of the same contract for lack of consent as an essential element under Article 1325, no. 1 of the Civil Code. The non-existence of the arbitration agreement, arising from the nullity of the contract containing it, results in the nullity of the award rendered pursuant thereto.
Under the regime of Article 829, paragraph 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended by Legislative Decree 40/2006, a challenge to an award for violation of the rules of law relating to the merits of the dispute is admissible only if expressly provided for by the parties or by law. In the absence of express provision in the arbitration clause, grounds of challenge based on violations of substantive law are inadmissible, save in any event for challenge on grounds of contrariety to public policy.
The time limit for challenging an arbitral award pursuant to Article 828 of the Code of Civil Procedure runs from the service of the award in the forms prescribed by the Code of Procedure. In the absence of proof of proper service, including acknowledgment of receipt attesting to reception by the addressees, the challenge is admissible if brought within the one-year period running from the date of the last signature on the award.
Proceedings for challenging an arbitral award have a two-phase structure: in the rescinding phase, the Court of Appeal must limit itself to ascertaining the nullities exhaustively provided for by Article 829 of the Code of Civil Procedure, without making findings of fact; only in the possible rescissory phase, following annulment of the award, is review of the merits permitted within the limits of the petitum and causa petendi pleaded before the arbitrators.