Interview Italy-florida Mission - Italy-America Chamber of Commerce ...

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
ICCS Chamber
of Arbitration
A bivalent structure for solving contractual disputes.
Giampaolo Di Pietto
A couple of years ago, the Italian Chamber of Commerce
in Zurich (Switzerland) constituted a Chamber of
Arbitration, a structure whose intention is to regulate the
commercial disputes between Italian and Swiss contractors.
After five years of exercise, a reorganisation and
some satisfactory legal cases, the results enable us to
evaluate whether it would be worth to develop this structure
within other Italian Chamber of Commerce abroad.
Floris - Litta Modignani - Di Pietto law firm, which recently
opened a new office in Miami, has just been added to
our Chamber as a new partner. This law firm was chosen
to manage the reorganization of the Chamber of
Arbitration of ICCS (Italian Chambers of Commerce for
Switzerland). Law firm associate Sebastiano Floris, who is
a member of the board of ICCS Chamber of Arbitration
and co-wrote with Notary Francesco Anchini the ICCS
Rules of Arbitration and Conciliation itself, tells us about
its advantages and its first experiences.
What we had in mind as we reorganized the ICCS
Chamber of Arbitration, says Sebastiano Floris, was to
manage those procedures that Italian and Swiss national
Chambers of Arbitration cannot manage. What they lack
is an arbitral tool that works in both ways, namely a structure
suitable for both Italian and Swiss operators. It is a
well-known fact that, when it comes to writing an international
contract, none of the contractors is inclined to remit
future potential lawsuits to the other Country's Judiciary
or Arbitration authorities. They would rather use third
party Institutions, neutral to the other Country's Courts of
Arbitration. Therefore, in contractual relations between
Italy and Switzerland the contractors do not use arbitration
clauses from their national Chambers, but clauses
from renowned Institutions, such as International
Chambers of Commerce in Paris, London and others.
The way the ICCS Chamber of Arbitration and its Rules are
set makes the ICCS arbitration clause easily accepted by
both Italian and Swiss entrepreneurs. The reason for this
is the clause's bivalent feature: Swiss contractors trust the
fact that the Chamber of Arbitration is in their Country,
while Italian contractors trust the fact that it comes from
their own Country. Furthermore, ICCS Rules for mediation
and settlement include carrying and managing the proce-
dure in four simultaneous languages: Italian, German,
French and English. In this way, a contractor from Milan,
in the event of a lawsuit against a contractor from Zurich,
will be able to deposit his defence in Italian, while the one
in Zurich will be able to use German. The ICCS Secretary
will translate the defence documents in the corresponding
language. ICCS arbitrators are consequently
required to know at least two of the aforementioned languages.
Another important feature is its cost, comparatively
lower than those of other renowned international
Chambers.
Of course, continues Sebastiano Floris, it will take some
time before ICCS will be able to constantly manage a high
number of arbitrations.
Nowadays, there is an increasing number of international
contractors who want to add ICCS arbitration clause to
their contracts. This might be a sign for a global need to
meet the rapidly evolving dispute resolution through the
Chambers of Arbitration, in the international community.
Among the procedures handled so far in Zurich, it is interesting
to focus on a complex case about a contract where
an important Swiss hotel required renovation works from
an Italian builder. This procedure was dealt with in relatively
short time, with minimum costs and actual satisfaction
in both parts. This was possible thanks also to the
ICCS Rules' mechanisms that contemplate seeking a settlement
in every moment of the lawsuit, with a separate
and quick procedure.
Following the positive example of ICCS, other Italian
Chambers of Commerce abroad could offer the same
arbitration service in the Countries where they operate.
Authors of ICCS Rules are developing a program that will
involve these Chambers as well. �
.27 .it italian trade