Court of Roma, judgment of 26 June 2026, No. 10150

A submission agreement for contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale), being aimed at achieving a ngotiated resolution of the dispute by way of mandate, implies a waiver by the parties of judicial protection, which precludes the application of art. 40 cod. proc. civ. and consequently renders inadmissible any claim brought before a court for the determination of the same dispute, even where that dispute is connected to another claim falling within the jurisdiction of the court seised.
A contractual clause referring to a friendly arbitrator any dispute relating to the validity, performance, execution and interpretation of the contract, exempting the arbitrator from compliance with procedural formalities save those mandatorily required by law, constitutes an agreement for contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale); it follows that the ordinary court, seised of a claim falling within the scope of such a clause, must declare its lack of jurisdiction in favour of arbitration.