ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Luciano Castelli, Gian Paolo Coppola, Claudia Bosco and Matteo Creuso, LCA Studio Legale
All judgments of the Courts of Appeal can be further appealed to the Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione).
• the addition of a new ground for the challenge of arbitrators for “serious reasons of convenience”; • the obligation upon each arbitrator to declare all circumstances that might compromise their impartiality and independence ‒ failure to disclose causes the invalidity of the acceptance of their appointment; • the explicit provision that the decree declaring the effectiveness of a foreign award is immedi - ately enforceable, although the term to submit the appeal to challenge the decree has not yet expired; • the regulation of the translatio iudicii from arbitra- tion proceedings to ordinary proceedings and vice versa; and • the time limit to challenge an arbitration award through annulment proceedings, which has been shortened from one year to six months (however, the 90-day deadline to challenge an award upon service by the other party remains unchanged). The CCP, in Articles 807 and 808, establishes two ways in which parties can agree to settle disputes through arbitration (both hereinafter referred to as “Arbitration Agreement”): • the arbitration clause ( Clausola Compromissoria ), included within an agreement to handle future dis - putes that may arise from that specific agreement; and • the arbitration agreement ( Compromesso ), which represents a separate agreement formed after a dispute has arisen, designed to submit that par - ticular dispute to arbitration. 3. The Arbitration Agreement 3.1 Enforceability A key difference between the two is that the arbitra - tion agreement must explicitly identify and clarify the specific dispute being submitted to arbitration. By contrast, both the arbitration clause and the arbi - tration agreement must be in writing to be valid. In this regard, agreements entered into by telegraph, telex, fax are considered to have been made in writing. So is an agreement entered into by the so-called “certified email” (a particular email system widely used in Italy).
2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law The CCP is the primary legal framework for arbitra - tion in Italy. Articles 806 to 832 of the CCP outline the key pro - cedural rules for arbitration proceedings held in Italy, without prejudice to relevant international conventions in force. Articles 839 and 840 of the CCP focus on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Italy. Italy’s arbitration law is not based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on international commercial arbitration but shares many core principles. The recent Cartabia Reform (see 2.2 Changes to National Law ) has filled the biggest gap between Italian legislation and the UNCITRAL Model Law con - cerning the possibility for arbitrators to grant interim measures. 2.2 Changes to National Law On 28 February 2023, the so-called Cartabia Reform for the reform of civil proceedings, introduced by Ital - ian Legislative Decree No 149 of 2022, entered into force and, among other things, introduced some changes to the national arbitration law. The main, and most keenly awaited, innovation is the introduction of the arbitrators’ power to grant interim measures. This was a significant factor that differ - entiated Italy from other major jurisdictions and was thought to be an obstacle to the growth of interna - tional arbitration in Italy. It must be added that such power must be conferred on the arbitral tribunal by the parties in writing, in the arbitration clause or by a specific agreement. However, a reference to the rules of an arbitral institution granting this power satisfies the condition. Other significant innovations are:
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