SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Arvmyren, Christopher Stridh and Mikaela Tysk, Delphi
Central Authority will then forward the document for service abroad. 3.6 Failure to Respond When the defendant is served the application for summons, the defendant is also ordered to submit its answer or statement of defence within a certain deadline. If the defendant fails to comply, the court may deliver a default summary judgment in accord- ance with the relief sought by the plaintiff. The court will, in such case, make a prima facie assessment of the plaintiff’s claim, to reasonably ensure that it is justified. Similarly, the court may issue a default judg- ment against the defendant (or the plaintiff) if they fail to a appear at a hearing and have been notified that the failure to appear may result in a default judgment. If a default judgment has been ruled, the defendant may, however, apply for the case to be reopened. The case can be reopened if the defendant applies to the court within a month from the day the default judg- ment was announced. If no application is made, or if it is late, the default judgment becomes legally binding with res judicata effect. 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Various forms of representative group litigation are available in, for instance, the Labour Court, where trade unions and employer’s organisations may bring forward cases. In addition to this, the Group Proceed- ings Act (GPA) allows for different forms of group actions in general courts. The GPA allows three forms of group actions. • Private group actions – any person (physical or legal) may initiate a private group action if the person has standing as a party to the proceedings with respect to one of the causes of action. • Organisation group actions – these are available in consumer and environmental law; group actions may be initiated by non-profit organisations which fulfil certain criteria. • Public group actions – these may be initiated by the public authorities appointed by the govern- ment, currently the Consumer Ombudsman and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
The proceedings are opt-in. There is no specific “cer- tification” required; whether a case fulfils the criteria of a group action is handled by the court as any other motion to dismiss an action without trying it on the merits. A group action is available if: • the action is based on circumstances or matters of law which are common or similar with respect to the claims of the members of the group; • group proceedings do not appear inappropriate; • the group is sufficiently defined; and • counsel for the group is a member of the Swedish Bar Association. The court’s judgment in a group action gains legal force both for and against all who have opted in to the group. Group members are not bound by a settlement unless it is approved by the court. The group representative assumes the risk of hav- ing to bear the defendant’s costs if the group loses the case. A more significant risk element is permitted in the fee arrangements between a group and their counsel; however, a full contingency fee arrangement is still not permitted. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate There is no general obligation to provide a client with a cost estimate of the potential litigation at the outset. However, members of the Swedish Bar Association are, under the association’s code of conduct, obliged to make sure that the client understands the principles the lawyer applies for debiting and invoicing. In practice, fee estimates and budgets are common.
4. Pre-Trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
Interim applications and motions as understood in a common law system are not available in Swedish court proceedings. Applications related to case management issues (extensions of time for instance) are available and a
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