A. LEGISLATION, TRENDS AND TENDENCIES
A.1 Domestic Legislation
On September 23, 2013, a mandatory mediation procedure was
reintroduced in the Italian system by Decree n. 69 dated June 21,
2013 (known as “Decreto del fare”), which has amended the
Legislative Decree n. 28 dated March 4, 2010 on civil and
commercial mediation.
Under the amended mediation procedure, the parties are
compelled to carry out a mediation proceeding as a prerequisite
for judicial action, whenever applicable, in relation to disputes
concerning the following subject-matters: lease of going
concern, compensation for damages deriving from medical
liability and from libel, insurance, banking and financial
contracts, lease contracts, rights in rem, gratuitous lease,
condominium, division of assets, hereditary succession, and
family agreements.
The mediation proceeding must be performed, with the
mandatory support of a lawyer, at official mediation bodies
located in the venue of the judge competent for the judicial
action. Judicial actions begun without the parties having
previously tried to find an agreement by way of mediation must
be stayed by the judge, upon a party's request, in order to allow
the mediation to take place. Arbitration proceedings are not
expressly mentioned by the law, but Italian courts’ current
tendency is to deem arbitration proceedings to be equivalent to
ordinary court cases (see below under B.1); therefore, it is not
unlikely that future case law will deem the rules concerning
mandatory mediation applicable also when the dispute is to be
settled by arbitration.