Court of Campobasso, judgment of 29 June 2026, No. 472

An objection based on the arbitration agreement raised before the ordinary court concerns the merits and not jurisdiction or competence, so that the decision resolving it is to be treated as a ruling on a preliminary question of merits.
An arbitration clause referring to arbitrators disputes concerning the interpretation or performance of the contract to which it relates covers, absent an express contrary intention, only disputes over claims whose cause of action lies in that contract, and does not extend to disputes concerning other contracts, even if connected.
Ineffectiveness of the arbitration clause by reason of dissolution of the underlying contract presupposes mutual consent, even tacit, inferable from the intention expressed by the parties.