Court of Appeal of Naples, 2 March 2026, No. 1652

Where an arbitration clause exists, a party which commences proceedings before the ordinary court in the knowledge that it should have availed itself of the arbitral procedure and which does not accept the objection of lack of jurisdiction raised by the opposing party is not entitled to a set-off of legal costs pursuant to Article 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure, not even where serious and exceptional reasons exist, given that such conduct is contrary to the legislative purpose of reducing the instances in which costs may be set off in unfounded proceedings.