Unlike arbitration, which is of a jurisdictional nature and substitutes for the function of the ordinary judge, the submission of a dispute to contractual arbitrators (arbitrato irrituale) is configured as a renunciation of recourse to judicial action and to the jurisdiction of the State, through the choice of a resolution of the dispute by means of an instrument of a private law nature.
In arbitration, the objection based on a compromissory clause has a procedural character and gives rise to a question of jurisdiction, whereas in contractual arbitration the relative objection gives rise to a question of merit, concerning the interpretation and validity of the arbitration agreement or compromissory clause and having as its object the presentation of a fact preventing the exercise of state jurisdiction.