An arbitration clause (clausola compromissoria) contained in a preliminary contract for the sale of immovable property survives its non-reproduction in the final contract, being an autonomous agreement having effects in proceedings with a function distinct from the contract to which it is accessory. Consequently, the parties may render it null only through a manifestation of intent specifically directed to that effect.
The plea of arbitration in respect of foreign arbitrators presents to the court a question of jurisdiction (giurisdizione) and not of territorial competence (competenza), with the consequence that the remedy against a judgment upholding such plea is an appeal and not an application for a ruling on competence under Article 819-ter of the Code of Civil Procedure.
International arbitration can only be institutional arbitration (arbitrato rituale), notwithstanding any different characterization by the parties, inasmuch as the legal system provides solely a specific form of institutional arbitration capable of transcending domestic boundaries, with possible application of the rules laid down for national institutional arbitration where not incompatible with its international character.
An arbitration clause referring generically to disputes arising from the contract to which it is appended shall be interpreted, in the absence of express contrary intent, to mean that the arbitral tribunal's jurisdiction extends to all and only those disputes whose cause of action lies within that contract itself, excluding disputes for which that contract constitutes merely a historical prerequisite.
For arbitration clauses "by reference" (per relationem) contained in a different agreement or document to which the contract makes reference, the requirement of written form ad substantiam is satisfied if the reference contained in the contract provides an express and specific reference to the arbitration clause; it is not satisfied if such reference is merely generic, since only an express reference ensures the parties' full awareness of the derogation from the jurisdiction of the courts.