SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Eriksson, Anders Arthur, David Nykvist and Saga Hanson, TIME DANOWSKY Advokatbyrå
9. Enforcement 9.1 Enforcement of Judgments
seldom used, although the rules in this regard have recently been made more liberal. The testimony starts with the witness giving its state- ment, guided by open questions from the party invok- ing the witness. This is followed by cross-examination during which leading questions are allowed and, if necessary, re-direct. There is no duty to testify in arbitration. Therefore, if a witness in arbitration proceedings objects to testify- ing, or if there is a perceived risk that the witness will not tell the truth, a party may request that the wit- ness be heard in court under the regime accounted for above. As regards the form of the testimony in arbitration, this is for the parties and arbitral tribu- nal to decide within the boundaries of due process requirements. Witness statements are more frequent in arbitration proceedings. If witness statements are provided, the written statement typically serves as the main testimony and the questions at the hearing start As a main rule, the parties are responsible for pro- viding the evidence in the case. This also applies to expert evidence. Therefore, on matters where expert evidence is needed, the parties typically call their respective expert witnesses. The experts provide writ- ten statements on which they then testify under oath at the hearing. with cross-examination. 8.5 Expert Evidence There is also a possibility for the court to request expert evidence in the form of an opinion from an authority, public official, or other person designated to provide an opinion on the matter. The person pro- viding the opinion may also be called to testify at the request of either party. However, court-appointed experts are very rare. Expert evidence is typically handled in a similar man- ner in arbitration, ie, expert evidence is provided by the parties in the form of expert statements on which the experts then testify at the hearing (without taking an oath). The arbitral tribunal also has the power to appoint experts, unless both parties object, but this possibility is hardly ever used in practice.
As a starting point, foreign court judgments are not recognised or enforced in Sweden. There are, how- ever, exceptions to this, the most notable being the EU Brussels I Regulation-regime under which judg- ments from other EU member states are recognised and enforced without any specific procedure being required. Where there is no statutory support for recognition/ enforcement of a foreign judgment, the matter must in principle be re-examined by the Swedish courts (or the courts of another EU member state) in order to be Domestic arbitral awards are enforced in the same manner as Swedish court judgments, ie, by the party that seeks enforcement submitting a request to the Swedish Enforcement Authority ( Kronofogdemyn- digheten ) which then takes relevant measures to give effect to the award, such as seizing and selling the debtor’s assets. Enforcement of foreign arbitral awards requires a two- step procedure. First, the Svea Court of Appeal must, in exequatur proceedings, examine whether there are grounds for refusing enforcement under the Arbitration Act. If there are no grounds, and the Court of Appeal reaches a positive decision regarding the award, the award can be submitted to the Swedish Enforcement Authority as set out above. 9.3 Length of Time There is no fixed timeframe for how long enforcement proceedings take. They can take anywhere from a few months to several years. Factors affecting the time- frame include: recognised and enforceable in Sweden. 9.2 Enforcement of Arbitral Awards • whether the debtor is co-operating; • whether there are assets to seize; • the workload of the Enforcement Authority; and • the type of enforcement.
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