ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Marco Torsello, Federica Serrantoni, Lucia Pontremoli and Gregorio Baldoli, ArbLit
Foreign Awards The grounds under which a foreign award may be refused recognition are those set forth by the New York Convention. As a general rule, awards set aside by the courts at the seat cannot be enforced in Italy pursuant to Article V(1)(e) of the New York Convention and Article 840 (3)(5) of the CCP. It has, however, been argued that an award set aside at the seat of the arbitration could nonetheless be rec - ognised and enforced in Italy if the foreign judgment setting aside the award could not itself be recognised in Italy under one (or more) of the grounds set forth by Article 64 of the Italian Private International Law Act. Another debated point is whether decisions recognis - ing a foreign award are affected by the subsequent setting-aside of the award at the seat. The prevail - ing view is that, even though the judgment granting exequatur would not be affected per se and would continue to display res judicata effects, the annulment of the award could be invoked at the enforcement stage under Article 615 of the CCP as a ground to resist enforcement on the debtor’s assets.
• failure of the award to fulfil mandatory formal requirements; • failure of the arbitral tribunal to decide within the time limit for rendering the award; • failure to comply with the procedural formalities set by the parties; • conflict with a previous award or a court decision that has become res judicata; • failure to comply with the principles of fair trial and contradictoire ; • failure to decide on the merits when a decision on the merits was due; • contradictions affecting the operative part of the award; and • failure to rule on any of the parties’ claims or objec - tions in accordance with the arbitration agreement. Awards may be challenged for errors in law only if the parties expressly provided so or when contemplated by law (as for corporate and labour law disputes). Lastly, awards may be set aside for breach of Italian public policy pursuant to Article 829 (3) of the CCP.
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