SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Helena Selander, Pontus Scherp and Fredrik Norburg, Norburg & Scherp
7.2 Expert Witness Role and Procedure In Swedish antitrust damages proceedings, expert evi - dence is most commonly presented through experts appointed by the parties. Claimants will frequently engage economic experts to assess and quantify the harm allegedly caused by the infringement. Economic expert evidence may also address other competition law issues, such as market definition and dominance. Legal experts may also be engaged, for example, to provide opinions on the content of foreign law where relevant. Defendants commonly appoint their own experts to respond to the claimant’s expert evidence and present alternative analyses or conclusions. Experts will generally provide their opinions in a writ - ten report. If requested by a party, an expert may also be examined at the oral hearing. The opposing party is entitled to cross-examine the expert on matters addressed in the expert report. The court may also appoint an expert, although this is relatively uncommon in practice. In addition, the court may request assistance from the Swedish Competi - tion Authority in determining the amount of damages. The Authority is not required to comply with such a request. As noted in 2.2 Courts , the Patent and Market Court itself generally includes economic experts alongside legally qualified judges, providing the court with spe - cialist economic expertise when considering competi - tion law matters. 8. Damages 8.1 Damages: Assessment, Passing On and Interest The guiding principle for the assessment of damages is full compensation. The claimant should, as far as possible, be placed in the financial position it would have been in had the competition law infringement not occurred. The assessment therefore generally involves comparing the claimant’s actual financial position with the counterfactual position that would have prevailed in the absence of the infringement. The amount of
and certain material submitted in the context of leni - ency proceedings. 6.2 Legal Professional Privilege Legal professional privilege is protected under Swed - ish law. Confidential communication between a client and its legal counsel are generally protected from dis - closure and cannot be compelled as evidence without the client’s consent. The protection follows from the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure and applies also in private antitrust damages proceedings. 6.3 Leniency and Settlement Agreements Leniency statements and settlement submissions contained in the files of a competition authority are protected from disclosure in private antitrust pro - ceedings. Such materials may not be ordered to be produced and are also inadmissible as evidence in antitrust damages actions. Witness evidence in Swedish civil proceedings is gen - erally presented orally at the main hearing. As a rule, written witness statements from factual witnesses are not admissible as a substitute for oral testimony, although exceptions apply, including where the par - ties agree that the statement may be relied upon. Wit - nesses may be cross-examined. Witnesses may be summoned by the court and are required to attend the hearing. A summons may be combined with a conditional fine and, if a witness fails to appear without a valid excuse, the court may ulti - mately order that the witness be brought before the court. A witness may also be required to bring docu - ments or other material relevant to the examination. As a general rule, a witness who has not yet given evidence may not be present in the courtroom while the proceedings are taking place. Witnesses are nor - mally examined under oath, subject to certain statu - tory exceptions. 7. Witness and Expert Opinions 7.1 Witness Procedure
176 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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