Court of Roma, judgment of 30 July 2026, No. 11765

A clause in the articles of association referring to the exclusive competence of an arbitral tribunal all disputes arising between the association and its members and among the members themselves covers a challenge to the resolution declaring the forfeiture of membership.
In order to satisfy the requirement that the arbitration agreement or the arbitration clause contain the appointment of the arbitrators or lay down their number and the manner of their appointment, it is not necessary for the appointment or the criteria to be physically inserted in the same document; an express reference to specific pre-existing rules, drawn up by the parties themselves or by third parties, or to specific separate documents expressly referred to, is also sufficient.
Where the arbitration clause refers, as regards the manner of constituting the arbitral tribunal, to rules providing for arbitration of a contractual nature (arbitrato irrituale), the claim brought before the ordinary court must be declared improcedibile (barred from being proceeded with).