Country Report: Italy

The paper is devoted to examining to which extent due process guarantees represent a limit to arbitral discretion in Italy. The analysis shows that in Italy the only limits to the procedural autonomy of the parties and arbitral discretion are to be found in the overarching principles of procedural public policy, such as the principle of due process. In this respect, the paper points out that Italian courts approach the question of a possible violation of fundamental due process guarantees at the post-award stage by taking into account the informality and flexibility that characterize the proceedings apud arbitros. The threshold employed to determine whether a violation has occurred is high and is set so as to require a significant—and, at times, absolute—infringement of the right invoked.