Short answer. No. Article 1880 states plainly that a special power to compromise does not authorize submission to arbitration. The two are treated as separate powers: authority to settle a dispute by agreement does not carry with it authority to refer the dispute to an arbitrator, which the agent needs a distinct special power to do.
What the law says
A special power to compromise does not authorize submission to arbitration.
Civil Code, Article 1880 — Compromise vs. Arbitration. Read the full provision →
Two distinct special powers
Some acts are so consequential that an agent needs a special power to do them at all; a general authority is not enough. Both compromising a dispute and submitting one to arbitration are such acts. Article 1880 makes clear that having one does not give the other: a special power to compromise does not authorize submission to arbitration. So if you gave your agent a special power to compromise — to settle a claim by mutual concessions — he may negotiate and conclude a settlement, but he may not, on the strength of that authority, agree to hand the dispute to an arbitrator for decision.
Why compromise and arbitration are not the same
The two look related — both are ways of resolving a dispute without a full trial — but the law treats them as fundamentally different commitments. In a compromise, the parties themselves settle: they reach the terms, and the agent who compromises is agreeing to a specific, known outcome that the principal, through him, has accepted. In arbitration, the parties give up deciding the matter themselves and put it in the hands of a third person whose decision they agree to be bound by, whatever it turns out to be. Submitting to arbitration therefore surrenders control over the result in a way a compromise does not.
What your agent can and cannot do
For a principal, the upshot is that you must be explicit about which powers you are giving. A special power to compromise lets your agent settle — accept or propose terms, make concessions, sign off on an agreed resolution. It does not let him agree that the dispute will be decided by an arbitrator; for that he needs a separate special power to submit to arbitration. If both are intended, both must be spelled out in the authority.
Drafting the authority
If you want your agent to be able to both settle and, failing settlement, take a dispute to arbitration, say both in the power of attorney — a special power to compromise and a special power to submit to arbitration. Do not rely on one to cover the other; Article 1880 forecloses that. And if you are on the other side, dealing with an agent who proposes arbitration, check that his authority actually includes the power to submit to it, not merely to compromise, before you rely on his agreement. The cost of confirming the authority is small next to the risk of an arbitration that binds no one.