Court of Rovigo, order of 10 August 2026 (R.G. 00000394/2026)

The exequatur procedure in respect of an award takes place without an inter partes hearing, without this entailing any infringement of the right to a defence, since the decree declaring the award enforceable may be reviewed both in proceedings to have the award set aside and by way of the complaint provided for by art. 825, co. 3, cod. proc. civ., which extends also to the decree granting the exequatur.
By way of a complaint against the decree given on an application for exequatur, defects relating to the steps preparatory to the enforceability of the award may be raised, such as the party's application, the filing of the award in the prescribed form and the production of the arbitration agreement, as well as those relating to verification of the formal requirements of the award, including its being an award in arbitration proper and the arbitrators' signatures.
Defects concerning the formal regularity of the arbitral instrument and the certification that the award conforms to the original may be raised exclusively by way of the complaint under art. 825, co. 3, cod. proc. civ., and cannot be substituted by opposition to the notice to comply, which concerns a challenge to the enforceability of the instrument.
An arbitral award has, from the date of its last signature, the effects of a judgment delivered by a court, pursuant to art. 824 bis cod. proc. civ., and may be challenged by an action to set aside, by revocation and by third-party opposition, pursuant to art. 827, co. 2, cod. proc. civ.