A judge called upon to ascertain the subject matter and limits of res judicata arising from an arbitral award cannot confine himself to considering the operative part alone, but must identify its essence and actual scope also through examination of the grounds supporting it, and the parties’ claims themselves may constitute useful interpretative elements for identifying the precise boundaries of res judicata where reasonable doubt arises in that regard.
The compensation awarded by the arbitral tribunal pursuant to Article 2041 of the Civil Code in favour of a temporary grouping of undertakings (raggruppamento temporaneo di imprese) is due to all members of the association according to the internally agreed allocation shares, regardless of the circumstance that in the operative part of the award the order was formally pronounced in favour of the lead undertaking alone, where it emerges unequivocally from the reasoning that the award concerns the activity carried out by the grouping as a whole.