1. The ACR is not a domestic court but rather a special agency of the Rome Chamber of Commerce. Art 21 of the Rules of the ACR provided that the parties, when accepting the Rules, agreed to renounce all the waivable remedies. In certain exhaustively enumerated circumstances, Italian law as in force at the relevant time conferred jurisdiction on the domestic courts to examine the validity of arbitral awards, by granting courts the powers to both declare the latter enforceable and in particular to decide on nullity appeals aimed at reviewing the lawfulness of arbitral proceedings, including the lawfulness of the composition of the arbitral tribunal, and this notwithstanding any waiver of a right of appeal against the award as agreed by the parties in the arbitration clause. Italian law also conferred jurisdiction on domestic courts to examine the requests for withdrawal lodged against an arbitrator. The impugned acts or omissions are thus capable of engaging the responsibility of the respondent State under the Convention. It follows that the Court has jurisdiction ratione personae to examine an applicant's complaint as to the acts and omissions of the ACR as validated by the Italian domestic courts.
