The objection to jurisdiction based on an arbitration agreement or clause under art. 819 ter cod. proc. civ., whose regime for being raised is assimilated to that of the simple objection to territorial jurisdiction, operates functionally at a higher level than the criteria of subject matter, value and territory, standing in an alternative and exclusionary relationship to all the other criteria conferring jurisdiction; it must therefore be examined in priority to the other preliminary objections to jurisdiction.
An arbitration clause in the articles of association referring to arbitration every dispute brought against directors, statutory auditors and liquidators concerning disposable rights relating to the corporate relationship covers also claims for damages brought against a de facto director, including claims for contribution which presuppose a determination, as a principal issue, of the co-liability of the defendants.
By virtue of the principle of the autonomy of the arbitration clause laid down by art. 808 cod. proc. civ., the vicissitudes of the contractual relationship to which it is ancillary, including the extinction of the company and its removal from the register of companies, do not affect its validity and effectiveness as against those who accepted it, the reference to arbitrators of disputes concerning facts occurring and rights arising during the period in which the parties were bound by it remaining fixed, save for the arbitration agreement being amended or abolished by agreement.
An arbitration clause in the articles of association cannot be relied upon against persons who are third parties vis-à-vis the company and on whose behalf the officer of the insolvency procedure is acting.
An objection to jurisdiction founded on an arbitration agreement is to be decided by order.