The validity of the arbitration clause must be assessed at the time the question of the allocation of jurisdiction between the court and the arbitrator arises, irrespective of the time at which the facts underlying the claim occurred.
The invalidity of an arbitration clause established for the protection of the weaker contractual party constitutes a form of relative protective invalidity, which is at the disposal of the protected party. By invoking the clause itself, such party impliedly waives the specific protection afforded.
An objection as to the invalidity of the arbitration clause raised before the court by a party who has previously manifested the intention to rely on that same clause by requesting the commencement of arbitral proceedings is contrary to the prohibition against venire contra factum proprium (acting inconsistently with one's prior conduct) and is inadmissible.