The assessment of fees by arbitrators in contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale) constitutes a mere contractual proposal addressed to the parties, without binding effect in the absence of acceptance by all parties to the arbitration proceedings, the special assessment procedure provided for by Article 814 of the Code of Civil Procedure not being applicable, which is reserved exclusively to institutional arbitration by reason of the capacity of the institutional award to acquire the effect of a judgment following filing.
The special procedure for the assessment of costs and fees of arbitrators provided for by Article 814 of the Code of Civil Procedure is not applicable, even by analogy, to contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale), given that the remuneration due to arbitrators in contractual arbitration does not constitute a procedural cost, but rather a debt arising from the mandate relationship existing between the parties and the arbitrators, for the enforcement of which only ordinary proceedings on the merits may be brought.
In matters of contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale), the signing of the hearing record by which the parties agree that the arbitrators may determine their own remuneration according to professional tariffs does not constitute acceptance of the assessment subsequently made by the arbitral panel, such prior consent being inadequate to manifest an unequivocal intention to accept remuneration not yet quantified and in any event limited to the mere identification of the criteria applicable to the assessment.
The action for contribution brought by the party who has voluntarily paid the entire remuneration self-assessed by the arbitrators in contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale) cannot be allowed against the jointly liable party who has not accepted such assessment, since, in the absence of acceptance, the joint and several obligation to pay the arbitrators’ remuneration can be deemed to exist only where the existence and amount of the debt arising from the mandate conferred on the arbitrators have been previously ascertained in proceedings on the merits in which the arbitrators were parties.