SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Björn Tude, Daniel Waerme, Caroline Gulliksson Dock and Sandra Aljassani, Gernandt & Danielsson
• the tribunal exceeded its mandate; • the arbitration was conducted in Sweden contrary to the parties’ agreement; • an arbitrator was improperly appointed or disquali - fied; or • a procedural error occurred that likely affected the outcome. Challenge proceedings must be brought before the competent court of appeal within two months of receipt of the award. If the seat of arbitration has not been stated in the award, the action shall be brought before the Svea Court of Appeal. The court’s review is limited to statutory grounds. 11.2 Excluding/Expanding the Scope of Appeal As arbitral awards are not subject to appeal on the merits, the SAA does not recognise substantive appeals. The parties may, however, agree on a con - tractual right to appeal to a second arbitral tribunal. Such agreements are rare in practice but remain per - missible. Furthermore, where neither party is domiciled nor has its place of business in Sweden, and the dispute aris - es out of a commercial relationship, the parties may, by explicit written agreement, restrict or waive the statutory grounds for setting aside an award. How - ever, challenges based on invalidity under the SAA cannot be waived. 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review Arbitral awards are final and not subject to review on the merits. Judicial review is limited to the specific statutory grounds for challenge under Sections 33 and 34 of the SAA. The courts assess only whether any of these grounds are met, such as: • invalidity; • lack of jurisdiction; • excess of mandate; or • serious procedural errors. The merits of the dispute, including the tribunal’s assessment of facts or application of substantive law, are not subject to review. The standard of judicial
review is therefore narrow and confined to procedural and jurisdictional issues.
12. Enforcement of an Award 12.1 New York Convention
Sweden adopted the New York Convention and rati - fied it without reservations. The Convention entered into force in Sweden on 27 April 1972 and is fully
incorporated into Swedish law. 12.2 Enforcement Procedure
Arbitral awards are enforceable in the same man - ner as judgments of Swedish courts. Applications for enforcement are made directly to the Swedish Enforcement Authority, which executes the award. Foreign arbitral awards are also enforceable in Swe - den, but the process involves two stages. First, an application for recognition and enforcement must be submitted to the Svea Court of Appeal (Section 56 of the SAA), which reviews the award to ensure that it does not contravene Swedish public policy and that no valid grounds for refusal are present under the SAA. The opposing party must be given the oppor - tunity to raise any objections (Section 57 of the SAA). Only after the Svea Court of Appeal grants recognition may the award be enforced through the Enforcement Authority. If the Svea Court of Appeal grants the appli - cation for enforcement, the arbitral award becomes enforceable in Sweden in the same manner as a final and binding judgment of a competent Swedish court. The decision of the Court of Appeal may be appealed to the Supreme Court. 12.3 Approach of the Courts Swedish courts take an arbitration-friendly approach and regularly recognise and enforce foreign arbitral awards. An arbitral award rendered by a tribunal seat - ed outside Sweden is classified as a foreign award and cannot be enforced until it has been subject to an exequatur procedure. This procedure ensures that there are no obstacles to recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award pursuant to Sections 54 and 55 of the SAA. The exceptions set out in these provisions are exhaus -
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