SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Björn Tude, Daniel Waerme, Caroline Gulliksson Dock and Sandra Aljassani, Gernandt & Danielsson
tive, and the court will not review any other aspects of the award. Section 54 of the SAA sets out five exceptions under which a foreign arbitral award may not be recognised and enforced in Sweden. These exceptions are as fol - lows: • if the signatory of the arbitration agreement lacked authority or the arbitration agreement is invalid; • if due process has been violated; • if the arbitral tribunal exceeded its mandate; • if the arbitrators were improperly appointed; or • if the award is not binding or enforceable in the country where it was rendered. The Svea Court of Appeal will only examine whether an exception applies if the respondent has made a specific objection to that effect. The respondent bears the burden of proof to show that such an exception should apply, except where the respondent denies having entered into an arbitration agreement, in which case the burden of proof is reversed. As a con - sequence of the restrictive grounds for refusal, the respondent’s burden of proof and the general pro- enforcement approach adopted by Swedish courts, there are very few Swedish cases in which enforce - ment has been refused on grounds such as due pro - cess violations or alleged excess of mandate by the arbitral tribunal. Section 55 of the SAA sets out additional exceptions that the court must consider ex officio. Under this pro - vision, the award shall not be recognised or enforced if the court finds: • that the award includes a determination of issues that are not arbitrable under Swedish law; or • that enforcement would be contrary to Swedish public policy. Generally, disputes that affect third-party interests are not arbitrable under Swedish law. Swedish courts apply a restrictive interpretation of the public policy exception under the New York Convention. Examples of circumstances where the public policy exception may apply include situations where an arbitral award has been rendered as a result of threats or bribes or
where claims have been based upon criminal acts. Due to this restrictive application of public policy as an exception, it is very rare for courts to refuse recogni - tion and enforcement on these grounds. 13. Miscellaneous 13.1 Class Action or Group Arbitration The SAA does not provide for class action or group arbitration. Arbitration under the SAA is based on con - sent, and proceedings are limited to parties bound by an arbitration agreement. Representative or collective claims are therefore not available in arbitration. Multiparty arbitrations are possible. Section 14 (3) of the SAA provides that if arbitration is initiated against several respondents who fail to jointly appoint an arbi - trator, the district court will appoint the entire tribunal and discharge any arbitrator already appointed. This provision ensures that proceedings can continue even where respondents cannot co-operate in the appoint - ment process. Consolidation of separate proceedings is possible under Section 23a of the SAA, but only with the con - sent of all parties. The SCC Rules supplement this framework by providing mechanisms for joinder of additional parties (Article 13), determination of claims under multiple contracts in a single arbitration (Arti - cle 14), and consolidation of proceedings (Article 15). These mechanisms promote procedural efficiency but do not permit class action or group arbitration. 13.2 Ethical Codes In Sweden, ethical codes and professional standards apply primarily to arbitrators rather than legal repre - sentatives. Pursuant to Section 8 of the SAA, an arbi - trator must be impartial and, upon request of a party, shall be discharged if there is any circumstance that may diminish confidence in the arbitrator’s impartial - ity. A prospective arbitrator must immediately disclose any circumstance that could give rise to doubts about impartiality, and arbitrators must conduct proceed - ings in an impartial, efficient and expeditious manner (Section 21 of the SAA). The SAA further provides that any agreement on arbitrators’ fees not concluded with the parties jointly is void and that arbitrators may not
971 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook