SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Anders Leissner, Martin Johansson, Isak Lefvert and Imola Szanto, Advokatfirman Vinge KB
an assessment of the facts in the specific case; sanc - tions already in force, or clearly foreseeable, when the contract was concluded thus seem unlikely to liberate a party from contractual liability. 6.2 Enforcement As far as is known, the Swedish courts have made no recent decisions that directly determine how the enforcement of a judgment should be handled where sanctions issues arise. In Sweden, the enforcement of judgments is handled primarily by the Swedish Enforcement Authority ( Kronofogden ), whose deci - sions are subject to judicial review. Generally, EU sanctions law prohibits the satisfaction of claims connected with contracts or transactions whose performance is prohibited under EU sanc - tions. An example of such a prohibition to satisfy sanctioned claims can be found in Article 11 of Reg - ulation 833/2014. Directed at judicial and regulatory authorities, this prohibition also applies to Swedish enforcement authorities, prohibiting the Enforcement Authority and the courts from taking measures to sat - isfy sanctioned claims. An unresolved issue is the question of whether Swed - ish courts and the Enforcement Agency should exam - ine the risk of satisfying sanctioned claims of their own motion. In Case C-802/24 Reibel , the Svea Court of Appeal referred questions to the CJEU on whether a national court must examine of its own motion wheth - er an arbitral award under its review gives effect to a claim in violation of Article 11 of Regulation 833/2014. The forthcoming decision is expected to clarify the approach that should be taken by national courts and authorities, including Swedish courts and, by exten - sion, the Enforcement Authority, where enforcement measures would risk contravening EU sanctions.
Under EU sanctions law, designation decisions are made by the Council of the European Union. The Council adopts restrictive measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union in the framework of the CFSP, which requires unanimity. Where measures have economic or financial effects, such as asset freezes or trade prohibitions, they are implemented through Council regulations under Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, with qualified majority. EU designations are thus directly applicable in Sweden with no implementing measures required, with few exceptions. United Nations sanctions designations are decid - ed by the UN Security Council, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. UN sanctions are implemented in Sweden in accordance with the procedure in Sections 15–17 of the Sanctions Act. Through this procedure, the Swedish government will issue an Ordinance implementing new UN sanctions, which needs to be approved by Parliament within two months to remain in force. 7.2 Scope of Designation EU designations can have indirect effects on non- designated entities, mainly in two ways. • Firstly, EU asset freeze regimes usually apply to funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by listed persons. This means that when a designated person or entity controls another entity, the assets of the sec - ond entity can also be frozen. As to the notion of “control”, the list of control indicators in Article 1 (j) of Regulation 269/2014 provides a useful starting point. The European Commission has also issued several opinions on what constitutes control for this purpose, available on the European Commis - sion’s website. Finally, the CJEU has also decided important cases on this topic; see 1.2 Key Trends . • Secondly, EU prohibitions on trade or transactions with designated persons often apply to both direct and indirect provisions. Under these prohibitions, a provision of funds, goods or services to a non- designated entity may be construed as an indirect provision to a designated person, depending on the circumstances in the case. The CJEU clarified in Case C-168/17, SH , that an indirect provision to
7. Designation, Compliance and Circumvention 7.1 Executive Body
Sweden does not maintain its own sanctions list; the sanctions designations that apply in Sweden stem solely from EU or UN decisions.
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