An arbitration clause which refers to an arbitral tribunal the resolution of disputes relating to the validity, interpretation, performance, termination and discharge of the contract, including the consequences of termination, does not deprive the ordinary courts of jurisdiction over claims for payment of liquidated monetary debts arising from the contractual relationship where the same clause expressly reserves to the lessor the right to bring proceedings before the judicial authority for payment of its monetary debts.
The indemnity for delayed return of the asset subject to a finance lease contract, determined on the basis of non-discretionary contractual criteria by multiplying the periodic consideration by the months of delay, constitutes a liquidated obligation falling within the category of monetary debts for which the lessor may choose between arbitration and ordinary jurisdiction in the presence of an appropriate safeguarding clause.