Author: Valerio Sangiovanni**
Published: December 2007
| Jurisdiction: Italy |
Topics: Categories of Disputes |
Description:
I. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF COMPANY ARBITRATION
In Italy there has recently been an important reform of corporate law. One of the major innovations of this reform has been the introduction of special rules concerning civil litigation involving companies: Legislative Decree No. 5/2003. Disputes involving companies are normally tried before a judge. However, the reform also allows company litigation to be decided by arbitrators, and a form of arbitration proceedings specifically for companies has been established by Legislative Decree No. 5/2003. Before this reform there had been no specific regulation in Italy for company arbitration (arbitrato societario), and the express regulation has reduced legal uncertainty. The opportunity to choose between court proceedings and arbitration creates a conflict between that two methods of resolving controversies. Standard litigation tends to last many years in Italy, and this inefficiency may have the effect of driving companies towards arbitration.
*Current Developments
**Dottore in giurisprudenza, Università di Pavia, 1992; Master of Laws, University of London, 1995; Doktor iuris, Universität Heidelberg, 2002. Admitted as an attorney-at-law in Italy (avvocato, 1997) and in Germany (Rechtsanwalt, 2000). The author would like to thank Colin Smith of the Institute of International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin, for proofreading this Note.