Short answer. Article 2043 extends the Civil Code's Chapter on compromises to arbitration agreements, meaning the same requirements, particularly that parties have capacity to contract and the legal freedom to dispose of the right involved, apply when parties agree to submit a dispute to arbitration instead of settling it through compromise.

What the law says

The provisions of the preceding Chapter upon compromises shall also be applicable to arbitrations.

Civil Code, Article 2043 — Compromise Rules Apply to Arbitration. Read the full provision →

Why compromise and arbitration are linked

Compromise and arbitration are both consensual ways of resolving a dispute outside a full trial. In a compromise, the parties themselves work out mutual concessions to end or avoid litigation. In arbitration, they instead agree to submit the dispute to a third party whose decision will bind them. Because both mechanisms depend on the parties' voluntary agreement to give up the right to a full court fight, the Code treats them as close relatives rather than unrelated institutions.

What Article 2043 actually borrows

Rather than writing a separate set of threshold rules for arbitration, Article 2043 simply extends the Chapter on compromises to cover it. That borrowed chapter addresses who has the capacity to enter such an agreement and what kinds of rights or claims may lawfully be submitted to this kind of settlement. By cross-referencing instead of repeating, the Code ensures the same baseline requirements apply whether the parties choose a compromise or an arbitration.

Capacity and subject matter requirements

Because the compromise rules govern, a person submitting a dispute to arbitration must have the legal capacity to contract, and the right or claim being arbitrated must be one the person is free to dispose of. Matters that the law does not allow parties to compromise on their own, because they involve public interest rather than a purely private right, are likewise placed outside the reach of arbitration under this cross-reference.

Where this fits in the Code's structure

Article 2043 sits at the start of the Chapter on arbitration, immediately after the article defining a submission to arbitration and just before the article on the award's finality. Its function is transitional: it tells the reader that the threshold questions of who can arbitrate and what can be arbitrated have already been answered by the compromise rules, so the following articles can move directly into the mechanics of the arbitration itself.

Practical effect for parties drafting an arbitration agreement

For anyone drafting or relying on an arbitration clause, this cross-reference is a reminder that arbitration is not exempt from the general limits the Code places on private dispute resolution. Before assuming that a matter can be sent to arbitration, it is worth confirming that the same matter could lawfully have been the subject of a compromise, since Article 2043 makes that compromise standard the gatekeeping test for arbitration as well.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.