SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Eriksson, Anders Arthur, David Nykvist and Saga Hanson, TIME DANOWSKY Advokatbyrå
directed by the court and an oral preparatory meeting. In this process, the parties usually elaborate on their previous statements and submit further evidence. The court is also obliged to encourage the parties to set- tle, which often happens at the preparatory meeting. Main Hearing and Judgment If there is no settlement, the case proceeds to the main hearing at which the full case, including written and oral evidence, is presented. The court thereafter decides the case and issues its judgment based on the information presented during the hearing. Appeal The district court’s judgment can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in the district court’s region. Leave to appeal is required but is typically granted in cases where it is not obvious that the district court’s deci- sion is correct. The Court of Appeal reviews questions of both law and fact, including the evaluation of evi- dence. The judgment of the Court of Appeal may be further appealed to the Supreme Court, but room for leave to appeal is very limited. Timeline The time that court proceedings take may vary greatly, depending on the complexity of the matter and the case load of the courts. In commercial disputes, it often takes one to two years – in large cases some- times more – before the district court’s judgment is rendered. Proceedings at the appellate level are often a little faster, but may take as long. If the case is appealed to the Supreme Court, a decision on whether leave to appeal is granted can be expected within six months. Should leave to appeal be granted – which very seldom happens – it may take a year or more for the Supreme Court to decide the case. 2.5 Confidentiality Under the Swedish principle of public access, court proceedings are open to the public. Anyone is free to attend any hearing without notice. Furthermore, anyone is entitled to request documents held by the courts, including decisions, judgments, submissions, and any other case-related materials. There are only a few exceptions to this. The excep- tion that is most relevant for commercial disputes is
the confidentiality of information concerning a party’s business or operations, inventions, or research results. However, confidentiality only covers information the disclosure of which could be assumed to result in sub- stantial harm, and is therefore narrowly applied. Where access to a document containing confidential information is requested, the court will provide the document in redacted form with only the sensitive parts concealed. Similarly, if confidential information is to be presented at a hearing, the court may order that that specific part of the proceedings be held behind closed doors. Regarding other parts, the hearing will remain open to the public. 2.6 Interim Relief Under the Code of Judicial Procedure, a party may request the court to order seizure of property, injunc- tions or other appropriate measures to protect the claimant’s rights. Such an order may be combined with a fine that becomes payable should the respond- ent not comply. Interim measures can be ordered on an ex parte basis (ie, without first hearing the respondent) if a delay would risk the effectiveness of the measure that is sought. Interim measures can also be ordered before the initiation of proceedings in respect of the main claim. The claimant has strict liability for the loss that the respondent may suffer if an interim measure is wrongfully ordered, and must provide security that covers such potential loss. For certain types of claims, special rules apply. For instance, in certain IP infringement cases, the claim- ant can – in addition to other measures – apply for an investigation into the occurrence of an infringement. There are no generally available statistics on the prev- alence of interim measures. However, the rules on liability for loss and the requirement to provide secu- rity have the effect that interim measures are typically only sought where there is perceived to be a real and pressing need.
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