SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Eriksson, Anders Arthur, David Nykvist and Saga Hanson, TIME DANOWSKY Advokatbyrå
court can in certain circumstances remove an arbitra- tor or decide questions concerning the arbitral tribu- nal’s jurisdiction while the proceedings are ongoing. After the arbitral award has been rendered, a party can request that the courts review whether the award should be set aside or declared invalid due to irregu- larities during the proceedings or non-compliance with formal requirements. 3.10 Relief In Sweden, arbitral tribunals may grant essentially the same types of final relief as Swedish courts, including orders for payment, specific performance and declar- atory relief. The room for declaratory relief is wider in arbitration than in court proceedings. Arbitral tribunals may also order interim relief. How- ever, such orders are generally not enforceable in Sweden. Therefore, parties often instead seek inter- im measures from the courts. Some institutional rules allow tribunals to grant interim measures in the form of awards, but it is unclear whether such awards are enforceable in Sweden.
tiative, for which there are provisions in the Mediation Act ( lagen om medling i vissa privaträttsliga tvister ). The SCC Arbitration Institute and other institutes also offer mediation services. However, formalised media- tion is seldom used in Sweden. Expert Determination It also happens that parties refer disputes to various types of expert determination, where one or several independent experts give an opinion on a disputed matter. The parties can agree what effect the opinion will have, for example, whether it should merely be guiding for further discussions between the parties, contractually binding, or have the effect of an arbitral award. The SCC offers a service of this kind called Express Dispute Assessment, through which the par- ties can have their dispute assessed by a neutral per- son within three weeks. 4.2 Requirements to Engage in ADR Mediation under the Code of Judicial Procedure is decided by the court, but requires the consent of the parties. Mediation under the Mediation Act is typically initiated by the parties agreeing on mediation in an existing dispute. The agreement does not have to be in writing but often is. For institutional mediation or other types of adminis- tered ADR, the applicable rules set out the relevant requirements. For instance, the Mediation Rules of the SCC Arbitration Institute provide that mediation will be initiated by a request for mediation that is sent to the SCC. An administrative fee must also be paid. 4.3 Impact of ADR A party’s right to initiate legal proceedings is gener- ally not affected by taking part in ADR. ADR proce- dures are voluntary, and based on the parties agree- ing to them. This means that a party can normally withdraw from the proceedings at any time without consequence, or even initiate court or arbitration pro- ceedings in parallel with ADR. However, the parties can agree on specific rules in this respect, which may impact the right to proceed to litigation or arbitration without consequences.
4. Other ADR Methods 4.1 ADR Procedures
Parties sometimes seek to resolve their disputes through mediation, rather than through litigation or
arbitration. Mediation
Mediation is a voluntary dispute resolution procedure in which a neutral third party, a mediator, helps the parties negotiate a mutual solution to their dispute. The mediator does not make any decisions but facili- tates dialogue and tries to help the parties reach an agreement. If the parties reach a solution, it is usually documented in a settlement agreement. Depending on the framework for the mediation, the settlement can also be confirmed in an arbitral award or declared enforceable by a court. In pending court proceedings, the court may – with the parties’ consent – refer the dispute to a mediator under provisions of the Code of Judicial Procedure. The parties can also initiate mediation on their own ini-
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