SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Arvmyren, Christopher Stridh and Mikaela Tysk, Delphi
7.5 Expert Testimony Expert testimony is permitted at trial and such evi- dence is normally introduced by the parties, not the court. However, in Chapter 40, Section 1 of the Proce- dural Code, it is stated that the court itself may seek expert guidance if it is necessary in order for the court to be able to assess the matter. Before an expert is appointed on the court’s initiative, the parties shall have the opportunity to provide comments. 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public As a rule, hearings are open to the public. There are a few exceptions to this (see 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings ). 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The court has a duty to guide the parties as needed during both the preparatory phase of the trial and during the main hearing, although the actual impact of this duty depends heavily on the character of the case and if the parties are represented by professional counsel or not. The purpose of any intervention of the court is to clarify any ambiguities in the state- ments made by the parties and to safeguard the rule of law by, among other things, assuring that the case is properly investigated and that procedural errors are avoided. Procedural issues will almost without excep- tion be handled in separate decisions and not in the final judgment. In civil cases, it is generally the case that the court shall intervene only when necessary. The court may direct the proceedings as long as it remains impartial and pursues the overall purpose of efficient proceed- ings. As a rule of thumb, directives by the court dur- ing the proceedings in civil cases where out-of-court settlements are allowed shall be limited to guiding the parties in order to clarify what relief they are seeking and what factual allegations they invoke as the basis for their claims. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings It is difficult to state a general timeframe for proceed- ings since it depends both on the circumstances of the case and the workload of the court. Normally, the preparatory phase in a commercial dispute would require six months to one year depending on the com-
As a final note, the court may only decide the case on the factual allegations and evidence that has been presented during the main hearing, which follows from the principle of immediateness. This means that the court may not take into consideration facts or allega- tions that have not been raised or referred to during the main hearing and have only been included in writ- ten submissions or otherwise during the preparatory phase of the trial or after the main hearing (see Chap- ter 17, Section 2 of the Procedural Code). 7.2 Case Management Hearings Case management during the preparatory phase has been briefly described in 7.1 Trial Proceedings . 7.3 Jury Trials in Civil Cases Except for cases concerning freedom of the press, jury trials are not available in civil cases (see Chapter 1, Section 3a of the Procedural Code). 7.4 Rules That Govern Admission of Evidence Rules regarding admission of evidence can be found in Chapter 35 of the Procedural Code. As a rule, all forms of evidence are admissible. How- ever, evidence can be declared inadmissible if it is not important to the case or if the evidence can be pre- sented in another way which would entail less effort, trouble or cost; or if the taking of evidence would delay the case in an unnecessary way. As an impor- tant exception to the above, written witness state- ments or affidavits are inadmissible unless the parties agree that they should be allowed. In relation to evidence that is admissible, the court has freedom to evaluate all evidence presented as it seems fit. There are no formal rules that certain evi- dence as such would have a higher probative value than other forms of evidence. In relation to circumstances that are undisputed or considered notorious, no evidence is required. Simi- larly, evidence is not required to prove legal rules and instructions. Since evidential hearings are subject to the so-called principle of immediateness, all types of evidence shall, as far as possible, be presented at the main hearing and not by way of written submissions.
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