The arbitration clause constitutes an agreement with procedural effects autonomous from the contract in which it is inserted, so that its validity must be assessed independently pursuant to Article 808, paragraph 2, of the Code of Civil Procedure; it follows that the nullity or termination of the main contract does not automatically invalidate the arbitration clause contained therein, it being reserved to the arbitrators to ascertain the alleged invalidity of the substantive agreement.
The arbitration clause has the dual character of autonomy and accessority: it is an agreement structurally distinct from that from which the substantive relationship between the parties arises, but is at the same time accessory to it and instrumental to the implementation of the regulation of interests conceived by the contracting parties, such characterisation being justified by the objective convergence of the parties’ interests in referring to arbitrators disputes relating to a specific substantive relationship.
In the presence of an arbitration clause, the application for and obtaining of a payment order from the ordinary court for the credit arising from the contract are not precluded, without prejudice to the respondent’s right to raise the objection of arbitral jurisdiction in opposition proceedings, with the consequent obligation for the court hearing the opposition to revoke the payment order and refer the parties to the arbitrators.