1. That the introduction of the power for arbitrators to deliver interim measures, welcomed by almost everyone, at least in principle, would give rise to considerable interpretive and practical problems, was something I had anticipated the day after the reform, and I was certainly not alone. A recent ruling by the Court of Siracusa dated 9 February 2026 (available at www.arbitratoinitalia.it) – certainly among the very first on the matter – is tangible proof of this. But with one exception – the admissibility of urgent arbitral interim relief before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal to which the merits of the dispute are entrusted, a problem I will address at the end – the issues to be dealt with here were fairly straightforward, and the main one is resolved in a manner clearly at odds with the wording of the new Article 818, paragraph 1, of the Code of Civil Procedure, and with a rational and plain reading of that provision.
2. The first question in logical order was, strictly speaking, the applicability ratione temporis of the new Article 818 of the Code of Civil Procedure: the arbitration clause had been executed on 3 October 2022, and therefore before the entry into force of the “Cartabia” reform, i.e. 28 February 2023 (Article 1, paragraph 380, Law No. 197 of 29 December 2022). The transitional provision under Article 35, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree No. 149/2022 makes that new provision applicable “to proceedings initiated after that date,” while proceedings already pending on that date remain subject to the provisions “previously in force” – that is, as far as we are concerned, the general prohibition for arbitrators to issue interim measures under the former text of Article 818.