Court of Vicenza, 9 September 2025, n. 1287
Legal Principle
An arbitration clause which refers disputes to a collegial body established by the supervisory authority pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 20/2018, composed of members independent from the hierarchical structure and possessing the statutorily required qualifications, is not void for breach of articles 809 and 810 of the Code of Civil Procedure, provided that the body operates with characteristics of independence, impartiality, autonomy and objectivity.
An arbitration clause which provides for contractual arbitration (arbitrato irrituale) rather than institutional arbitration is not void where the applicable legislation does not specifically prescribe institutional arbitration, merely establishing that the pronouncements of the collegial body shall have the nature of an arbitral award pursuant to Title VIII Book IV of the Code of Civil Procedure.
An arbitration clause which refers to the arbitral tribunal "all disputes of a technical and legal nature" arising in relation to the contract and the relevant certification procedure is not void for uncertainty, where it specifies the inclusion of disputes relating to measures for non-compliance, irregularities and infractions.
An arbitration clause which establishes that the award shall not be subject to appeal is not void, since the regime for challenging awards is that established by law regardless of the parties' agreements.
The regulation of arbitral procedure which provides for peremptory time limits for the submission of applications and for the parties' defensive activities, with identical preclusions for both parties, does not violate the principle of adversarial proceedings where it ensures equal treatment and opportunity for defence.
A contractual arbitral award (lodo irrituale) may be challenged for fundamental error exclusively where the formation of the arbitrators' decision has been distorted by an altered perception of reality and of the factual elements submitted for their examination, and not where the distortion relates to the evaluation of a reality correctly perceived.
A contractual arbitral award is not subject to challenge for errors in iudicando or for erroneous application of the rules of contractual interpretation, being voidable only for defects which may vitiate any manifestation of contractual intention.
In proceedings to challenge an arbitral award, it is inadmissible to raise complaints which were not submitted to the arbitrators' consideration during the course of the arbitral proceedings.
Methodological Notes
standard