An arbitration clause providing for the resolution of disputes by means of an arbitral tribunal, in the absence of clear formal indications as to the institutional or contractual nature of the arbitration, must be interpreted as institutional arbitration, this being the preferred construction in cases of doubt, given the greater protection afforded in terms of enforceability of the award, the regime of challenges, and the possibility of obtaining interim relief.
The plea of arbitration agreement (eccezione di compromesso) renders the ordinary court incompetent and must be raised promptly in the first statement of defence, with the time limit to be calculated by reference to the hearing fixed in the original writ of summons even in the case of renewal of the citation.
The formulation of a counterclaim by the defendant who has pleaded the arbitration agreement does not constitute a waiver of the plea of incompetence where the counterclaim is advanced in the alternative to the rejection of the plea, since the examination of the counterclaim must be regarded as ontologically conditional upon the non-acceptance of the plea of arbitration agreement due to the logical incompatibility between the two applications.
The acceptance of the plea of arbitration agreement results in the absorption of counterclaims formulated in the alternative by the party who raised the plea, as well as of further procedural pleas which presuppose the competence of the tribunal in order to be examined.